THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


Page  6        FORT   COLLINS   EXPRESS-COURIER,   Wed^   July   B 

Herring  Ranch^  Recently  Sold^  Was 
Site  of  Roadhouseon  Old  Stage  Route 


Recent  sale  of  the  Rowl  Hei- 
ring  ranch  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Woo(i 
Hill  recalls  much  early  Lari 
mer  county  history  for  this  land 
originally  was  homesteaded  by; 
John  Provost.  ' 

For  25  years  Provost  operated- 
a  roadhouse  when  Laporte  was 
a  village  on  the  stage  route  from 
Denver  to  Laramie. 

When  the  flood  of  1864  washed 
away  the  bridge  Provost  built  a 
ferry  and  did  a  thriving  busi- 
ness. More  than  2,000  wagons 
crossed  the  river,  in  addition  to 
numerous  horsemen. 

Contains    Cemetery 

Three  of  Provost's  children 
are  buried  in  the  old  cemetery 
on  the  farm,  on  the  Bingham 
Hill  road. 

The  late  Mrs.  Eliza  Gardener, 
mother  of  Mrs.  Jake  Holtz,  told 
of  helping  prepare  one   of  the 
Provost  children  for  burial  and 
finding  difficulty  in  placing  the: 
little  body  and  all  belongings  in  i 
the  casket.     The  Indian  custcm ' 
of  burying  all  personal  belong- 
ings with  the  dead  was  followed 
and  the  body  had  to  be  taken 
three  times  out  in  order  to, ad- 
just possessions.  '" 

Names  of  many  pioneers  are 
found  on  the  fallen  headstones. 
Several  efforts  have  been  made 
to  renovate  the  old  cemetery 
and  straighten  the  old  fences 
and  headstones  but  it  has  proved 
a  disheartening  task. 

Sold  to  Railroad      . 

Provost  sold  the  ranch  to  the 
Union  Pacific  railroad,  which 
sold  it  to  h!  I.  Garbutt  and  Rowl 
Herring.  Mr.  Garbutt  was  one 
of  the  early  lawyers  in  the  coun- 
ty, practiced  here  from  1S66  un- 
til 1925. 


Happy  Go  Lucky  Bridge  club, 
which  she  founded  some  20  years 
ago  and  with  whom  she  still 
plays  during  the  winter.  She 
remained  on  the  farm  and  man- 
aged it  for  several  years  after 
Mr.  Herring's  death  until  the 
I  burden  became  too  great. 


When  Mr.  Herring  and  his 
first  wife  moved  to  the  ranch 
they  had  three  children,  Nellie, 
6,  Volney  4,  and  Cameron  three 
months.  Lucy  and  Ted  were 
born  there.  All  five  are  well 
known  Larimer  county  citizens 
and  all  have  lived  their  lives  in 
the  county  and  still  are  resi- 
dents. 

Nellie  is  Mrs.  Fancher  Sarchet 
and  she  was  married  in  the  old 
log  house  on  the  ranch.  Volney, 
an  employe  of  the  Great  Western 
Sugar  company  for  years,  owns 
the  Taft  farm  across  from  the 
home  ranch.  Cam  farms  west  of 
Fort  Colling  Lucy  is  Mrs.  Tob- 
in,  hostess  at  Ammons  hall,  and 
Ted  is  L  E.  Herring,  state  rep- 
resentative and  owner  of  Ted's 
place  at  the  mouth  of  the  Pou- 
dre. 

House   Built   in    1912 

In  1912  a  new  house  was  built 
and  the  historic  old  log  house 
was  dismantled.  Now  after  57 
years  in  the  family,  the  farm  has 
passed  into  other  hands. 

Much  of  the  land  was  used  for 
truck  gardening  and  carloads  of 
produce  were  shipped  each  year. 
Cheyenne  was  a  market  for 
much  of  the  vegetables. 

The  present  Mrs.  Herring  was 
a  sister  of  Rowl  Herring's  first 
wife.  She  lives  in  Fort  Collins 
and  is  87.  She  was  honored  in 
May  by  a  luncheon  given  by  the 


u^^  yl^ 


MISS  LUELLA  SHAW 


True  History  of  Some 

of  the  Pioneers  of 

Colorado 


LUELLA    SHAW 


1909 

PUBLISHED  BY 

W.  S.  COBURN.  JOHN  PATTERSON  and  A.  K.  SHAW 

HOTCHKISS,  COLORADO 


COPYEIGHT  1909 
BY 

LuELLA  Shaw 


DENVER,   COLO. 
PEESS  OF  CAESON-HAEPEE  CO. 


Contents 


Page 

PEEFACE 7 

CHAPTER  I.— The  Cause  of  the  Combination  of  the  Three 

Tribes  Against  the  Whites.  As  told  by  W,  S.  Coburn.  .  9 

CHAPTER  II.— Watson  S.  Coburn 15 

CHAPTER  III.— My  First  Trip  Across  the  Plains.     By  W. 

S.  Coburn 19 

CHAPTER  IV.— Raid  Up  the  Platte.    As  told  by  W.  S.  Co- 
burn  23 

CHAPTER  v.— Massacre  of  the  Hungate  Family 33 

CHAPTER  VI.— Jim  Reynolds  and  His  Gang 39 

CHAPTER  VIL— Alston  Knox  Shaw 49 

CHAPTER  VIII.— Proceedings  of  Company  "A."     As  told 

by  A.  K.  Shaw 53 

CHAPTER  IX.— John  Patterson 67 

CHAPTER   X.— Proceedings   of   Company   "C."    By   John 

Patterson    69 

CHAPTER  XL — Est  Pinosa,  the  Mexican  Desperado 73 

CHAPTER  XII.— Sand  Creek  Fight.     As  told  by  Patterson 

and  Shaw 79 

CHAPTER  XIII.— A  Few  Incidents  During  the  Fight 87 

CHAPTER  XIV.— Cause  of  the  Sand  Creek  Fight 99 

CHAPTER  XV.— Justice  of  the  Fight 107 

CHAPTER  XVI.— Sand  Creek  a  Decisive  Battle 115 

CHAPTER  XVII.— The  Yellow  Haired  Boy 121 

CHAPTER   XVIIL— March    to    Fort    Larnard.      By    A.    K. 

Shaw  and  John  Patterson 127 

CHAPTER  XIX.— Shaw  and  the  Horses 131 


Page 

CHAPTER  XX. — Little  Happenings  in  Denver 137 

CHAPTER   XXI. — Depredations     of    Indians    on     Geary's 

Neighbors.    Told  by  J.  Patterson 143 

CHAPTER  XXn.— Captain  Peacock's  Fight.     As  told  by 

W.  S.  Coburn 149 

CHAPTER  XXIII.— Indian  Charley.    By  W.  S.  Coburn   151 

CHAPTER  XXIV. — Little  Horse  and  His  Band.    As  told  by 

W.  S.  Coburn 159 

CHAPTER  XXV.— Two  Face.    By  W.  S.  Coburn 167 

CHAPTER  XXVL— Standing  Elk. 173 

CHAPTER  XXVII. — Massacre  at  Fort  Phil  Kearney 179 

CHAPTER  XXVm. — Mexican  Peter  Arrago.     As  told  by 

W.  S.  Coburn 181 

CHAPTER  XXIX. — A  Few  Minor  Experiences.    As  told  by 

W.  S.  Coburn 187 

CHAPTER  XXX. — Red  Bead,  Roberts  and  the  Comanches.  .    197 

CHAPTER  XXXI.— Fight  with  Eagle  Claw.  By  W.  S.  Co- 
burn    201 

CHAPTER  XXXIL— Fight  of  General  Forsyth.     As  told  by 

A.  K.  Shaw 211 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. — A   Trip  Into   Montana.     As  told  by 

A.  K.  Shaw ...    217 

CHAPTER  XXXIV, — A   Trip   to   the   Missouri  River.      As 

told  by  A.  K.  Shaw 227 

CHAPTER   XXXV.— A   Buffalo    Hunt.      As   told    by    John 

Patterson    •    233 

CHAPTER    XXXVI. — My   First   Introduction    to   Colorado. 

As  told  by  Mrs.  John  Patterson 237 

CHAPTER  XXXVIL— The  Advent  of  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  in  the  Summer  and  Fall  of  1867.  By  W.  S. 
Coburn  241 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. — Gold  Miners  from  Montana  Return- 
ing to  the  States  After  a  Successful  Trip 249 

CHAPTER  XXXIX,— Loyalty  to  the  Pioneers 253 

CHAPTER  XL.— Conclusion  265 


Come,  you  children  of  the  pioneers. 

And  join  me  in  their  praise; 
Let  us  shout  three  rousing  cheers, 

To  awake  the  memory  of  their  trays. 
Our  fathers,  they  came  to  the  land 

Of  redskins  and  buffalo, 
And  took  a  firm,  steadfast  stand. 

To  rid  the  country  of  its  foe. 
Some  were  settlers,  others  were  scouts, 
All  aiming  to  build  up  the  frontier 
And  run  the  redskins  out, 

Who  were  scalping  all,  far  and  near. 
They  suffered  privations  and  hardships, 

These  strong-hearted  men  of  the  wild. 
As  they  made  their  many  trips 

Over  the  prairie,  but  not  once  defiled. 
Though  unseen  dangers  hovered  near, 

On  open  plains  or  in  mountains  high. 
They  bravely  pushed  forward  with  a  cheer, 

Determined  to  conquer  the  West  or  die. 
When  the  Indian  massacres  were  spreading, 

And  the  frontier  was  flooded  with  untold  fears, 
And  all  the  settlers  were  dreading 
The  oncoming  blood-stained  years, 


Governor  Evans  realized  the  vast  need 

Of  defense  and  protection  on  the  border; 
So  Colonel  Chivington  bravely  took  the  lead, 

And  marched  his  band  out  in  perfect  order. 
Just  a  hand  full  of  volunteers 

Marched  out  to  defeat  or  victory. 
One  aim  had  these  brave  pioneers, 

'Twas  to  save  this  western  country. 
They  did  not  march  to  fife  and  drum. 

In  grand  military  array, 
With  bayonets  flashing  in  the  sun, 

Or  waving  colors  bright  and  gay, 
But  valiantly  kept  step  to  the  rhyme 

Of  aching  hearts  and  thoughts  of  those 
That  fell  victims  to  the  bloody  crime 

Of  the  savages — the  settlers'  worst  foe. 
They  marched  'neath  the  standard  of  right, 

These  volunteers  brave  and  true. 
And  fought  with  all  their  might 

To  win  a  home,  my  friends,  for  you. 

They  chased  those  bloodthirsty  red  devils 

That  had  covered  the  West  with  blood  and 
tears ; 

They  ran  them  on  the  hills  and  levels, 


Like  the  redskins  had  once  done  the  pioneers. 
Only  a  few  ot  them  now  remain 

To  see  the  outcome  of  their  deeds; 
The  growth  of  their  once  barren  phiin 

That  now  supplies  all  our  needs. 
We  owe  to  Chivington  and  his  band 

A  debt  we  can  never  repay, 
For  taking  their  brave,  firm  stand, 

Thus  starting  our  West  of  today. 
The  West  of  grandeur  and  wealth. 

With  its  schools  and  enterprises, 
The  West  of  good  cheer  and  health, 

And  many  other  glad  surprises. 
Reverence  to  the  memory  of  those  years 

Of  struggles  and  sorrows  on  the  frontier — 
Gratitude  in  our  hearts  for  the  Volunteers 

And  our  forefathers — the  Pioneers. 


PREFACE. 

In  presenting  this  narrative  to  the  public,  its  ob- 
ject will  be  to  furnish  a  true  history  of  some  of  the 
incidents  of  the  early  settlement  of  the  West,  and 
especially  of  Colorado, 

Being  intimately  acquainted  with  parties  cogni- 
zant of  the  facts  related,  we  feel  certain  of  the  lit- 
eral truths  of  the  statements  contained  in  this  book. 

There  have  been  so  many  publications  put  upon 
the  market  purporting  to  be  true  history  of  frontier 
lite,  that  utterly  fail  to  convey  the  faintest  idea  of 
the  real  facts,  that  this  work  is  undertaken. 

It  is  impossible  for  the  rising  generations  to  con- 
ceive but  a  remote  idea  of  the  privations  and  dan- 
gers from  hostile  Indians  that  the  pioneers  endured 
in  the  early  settlement  of  the  West.  This  work  will 
give  an  insight  into  the  lives  of  some  of  the  early 
settlers  who  endured  the  hardships  and  privations 
that  they  underwent  for  the  sake  of  paving  the  way 
to  our  present  civilization,  where  towns,  cities  and 
railroads  have  sprung  into  existence  as  if  by  magic. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    CAUSE    OF    THE    COMBINATION    OF    THE    THREE 
TRIBES  AGAINST  THE  WHITES. 

As  "Told  by  W.  S.  Coburn. 
After  spending  the  last  forty-five  years  on  the 
frontier,  beginning  in  the  then  Territory  of  Kansas, 
Nebraska,  Colorado,  Wyoming,  Utah,  Idaho, 
Nevada,  New  Mexico,  Arizona  and  Montana,  and 
being  a  close  observer  of  cause  and  effect  in  passing 
events,  it  will,  no  doubt,  be  of  interest  to  the  general 
public  to  know  the  real  cause  of  the  uprising  and 
consolidation  of  the  three  tribes  of  Indians,  namely, 
the  Sioux,  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes,  against  the 
whites. 

The  Sioux  Nation  was  the  most  powerful  and 
numerous  of  any  of  the  tribe  of  Indians  on  the  North 
American  continent,  at  one  time  numbering  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  thousand  warriors  and  consisting  of 
three  distinct  bands,  called  the  Yankton  Sioux,  who 
inhabited  the  northern  boundary  of  the  United 
many  of  whom  lived  in  Minnesota. 

The  Bruls  Sioux  held  the  territory  of  North  and 
South  Dakota,  and  the  Ogalalie  Sioux,  who  occupied 
the  plains  of  Colorado. 


lO  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


In  the  fall  of  1862,  when  the  United  States  was 
engaged  in  the  Civil  war,  Minnesota  had  been  set- 
tling up  pretty  fast,  and  was  crowding  in  on  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  Yankton  Sioux,  who  were  very  friendly 
with  the  whites  and  often  enjoyed  the  hospitality  of 
the  settlers  in  the  small  places  and  in  the  vicinity  of 
New  Ulm. 

About  this  time  they  conceived  the  idea  of  stop- 
ping the  white  settlers  from  coming  into  that  part  of 
Minnesota.  Knowing  that  the  United  States  was 
plunged  into  the  Civil  War  and,  as  they  thought, 
fully  occupied  with  their  own  domestic  troubles,  it 
would  be  the  most  opportune  time  for  them  to  ex- 
ecute their  plans. 

Accordingly  they  held  secret  councils  and  ma- 
tured their  plans  of  attack  and  massacre  without  the 
least  suspicion  on  the  part  of  the  frontier  settlers, 
with  whom  they  had  been  so  friendly.  One  old 
squaw,  however,  knew  of  their  plans  and  notified 
some  of  the  white  women  who  had  been  very  kind  to 
her  and  advised  them  to  go  to  safety  at  once,  but  the 
whites  did  not  believe  the  Indians  would  do  them 
any  harm  and  ignored  the  admonition  of  the  old 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  11 

squaw;  so  accordingly  on  the  night  of  September 
23rd,  1862,  (if  my  memory  serves  me  right),  the 
Indians,  according  to  previous  arrangement,  raised, 
as  if  by  one  man,  in  all  parts  of  the  settlement,  and 
began  to  burn  buildings  and  kill  men,  women  and 
children  as  fast  as  they  could  get  to  them.  This 
massacre  lasted  a  day  and  a  night  until  some  three 
hundred  settlers  were  killed  and  their  homes  laid  in 
ashes. 

The  United  States  troops  were  soon  in  pursuit 
and  captured  some  three  hundred  Indians  and  took 
them  to  the  military  prison  at  Rock  Island  on  the 
Mississippi  river  between  Illinois  and  Iowa.  There 
they  held  them  until  the  spring  of  1863,  when  they 
were  tried  b\  court-martial  and  twenty-three  of  the 
leaders  were  sentenced  to  be  hung;  they  were  duly 
executed  and  the  balance  were  made  to  witness  the 
hanging.  The  orders  from  the  war  department  were 
for  the  soldiers  to  take  the  remaining  Indians  out  on 
the  plains  and  turn  them  loose,  with  instruction  to 
never  return  to  Minnesota. 

At  this  time  nearly  all  the  Indians  on  the  plains 
were  at  war  with  each  other  over  disputed  territor}^ 
of  their  hunting  grounds. 


12  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


The  Omahas  and  Winnebagoes  were  weak  tribes 
without  much  ambition,  and  were  satisfied  to  live 
and  beg  from  the  few  settlers  in  the  vicinity  of 
Omaha. 

The  Pawnees  were  located  on  the  Loop  Fork  of 
the  South  Platte  river  and  were  deadly  enemies  of 
the  Sioux,  the  disputed  territory  being  near  old  Fort 
Kearney,  from  there  west  for  two  hundred  miles  up 
the  Platte,  and  from  the  line  of  New  Mexico  south 
for  six  hundred  miles. 

In  the  north,  the  Ogulalies  had  supreme  control, 
only  when  menaced  by  the  Pawnees  on  the  east 
and  the  Cheyennes  on  the  west,  who  claimed  one 
hundred  miles  of  the  Platte  river  and  some  five  hun- 
dred miles  north  and  south  from  the  west  end  of  the 
Cheyennes'  territory'.  They  claimed  about  sixty 
miles  along  the  base  of  the  mountains,  where  Den- 
ver, Colorado  Springs,  Greeley  and  Pueblo  now 
stand.  Up  in  the  mountains  the  Utes  claimed  their 
hunting  grounds,  but  would  occasionally  go  down 
and  trespass  on  the  Arapahoes'  territory;  then  there 
was  sure  to  be  war  when  this  was  found  out. 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  I3 

This  was  the  condition  wlien  nearly  three  hun- 
dred of  the  murderous  band  of  Yankton  Sioux  were 
turned  loose  on  the  plains  among  their  kindred. 

They  at  once  told  their  friends,  Ogulalies,  what 
a  terrible  crime  the  whites  had  committed  in  hang- 
ing twenty-three  of  their  comrades  and  chiefs. 
Hanging,  by  the  way.  is  the  most  ignoble  death  for 
an  Indian  imaginable.  This  remnant  of  three 
hundred  at  once  advocated  consolidation  with  all 
the  Indians  with  whom  they  were  at  home,  to  fight 
and  exterminate  the  whites.  They  called  councils 
of  war  with  the  Pawnees,  who  refused  to  listen. 

They  then  made  overtures  to  the  Cheyennes  and 
Arapahoes,  when  councils  were  held  during  the  sum- 
mer of  1863,  and  speeches  made  denouncing  the 
whites  and  calling  the  Indians  fools  for  fighting 
among  themselves  and  killing  each  other,  but  to  com- 
bine and  annihilate  the  whites.  These  councils 
finally  prevailed  late  in  the  fall,  between  the  three 
tribes  of  Sioux,  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes.  The 
Pawnees  in  the  east  and  the  Utes  in  the  mountains  to 
the  west  refusing  to  particij^ate  with  their  enemies. 

This  combined  force  of  three  tribes  soon  com- 
menced their  depredations,  covering  a  territor)'  five 


14-  TRUE   HISTORY  OF   SOME  OF 

hundred  miles  wide,  east  and  west  of  the  northern 
line  of  New  Mexico,  to  the  Canadian  line  in  the 
northward,  a  distance  of  some  nine  hundred  miles. 

Forts  were  established,  and  soldiers  stationed  all 
along  the  Arkansas  and  Platte  rivers  to  stop  their 
murderous  and  destroying  raids.  But  the  Indian 
war  on  the  plains  lasted  about  fifteen  years  before 
the  government  finally  got  them  subdued. 

During  this  time  hundreds  of  emigrants  and  sol- 
diers were  killed  and  scalped,  and  millions  of  dollars 
worth  of  property  destroyed  and  stolen. 

A  few  years  ago  the  government  created  an  In- 
dian Depredation  Bureau  and  sent  attorneys  west  to 
take  evidence  to  establish  the  claims  of  those  who 
had  been  raided.  The  narrator  proved  up  on  his 
claim  for  stock  stolen  and  hay  burnt  to  the  amount 
of  eighteen  thousand,  two  hundred  and  eighty  dol- 
lars and  the  attorney  told  him  that  there  was  up- 
wards of  seventy  million  dollars  in  claims  for  In- 
dian depredations  and  the  government  was  anxious 
to  have  them  all  filed  and  settled  as  soon  as  possible, 
since  which  time  there  has  been  no  effort  on  the 
part  of  Congress  to  take  the  matter  up  and  amend 
one  article  so  the  claimants  can  be  settled  with. 


W.  S.  COBURN 


CHAPTER  II. 

WATSON    S.    COBURN. 

Watson  S.  Coburn  was  bom  on  June  4,  1838, 
in  Decatur,  Massachusetts. 

After  living  in  the  New  England  states  about 
twenty-one  years,  he  decided  to  go  West.  He  made 
Chicago,  then  a  town  of  a  hundred  and  nine  inhab- 
itants, his  first  stop,  where  he  remained  six  months, 
before  going  to  Springfield,  Illinois.  While  in 
Springfield  the  civil  war  broke  out  and  he  went  to 
join  the  army.  Failing  to  get  in  on  account  of  the 
quorum  being  filled,  each  time  he  applied,  he  was 
given  a  position  as  a  sutler  to  sell  goods  to  the  sol- 
diers. 

He  was  in  the  siege  at  Vicksburg,  which  lasted 
forty-seven  days  and  nights,  and  when  Pemberton 
was  forced  to  surrender  to  Grant  and  the  town  was 
opened,  Coburn  was  the  first  citizen  to  enter  Vicks- 
burg. He  went  in  with  the  first  regiment  of  sol- 
diers on  July  4,   1863. 

About  this  time  he  quit  the  army  and  went  into 
the  commission  business  at  Omaha,  Nebraska.     Six 


l6  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

months  afterwards  his  partner  died,  so  he  sold  out 
and  came  to  Colorado,  since  which  time  he  has  been 
all  over  the  western  states.  He  lived  on  his  ranch, 
which  was  called  the  Chicago  ranch  and  situated  on 
the  Platte  river,  during  the  years  of  1865,  1866  and 
1867. 

When  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  was  built  from 
Julesburg  on  west  in  1868,  this  put  a  stop  to  the 
overland  freight  and  travel  and  consequently  put 
the  feed  stations  out  of  business.  Mr.  Coburn  then 
went  to  work  for  the  railroad,  contracting  for  the 
fuel.  Ke  was  the  first  man  to  build  a  house  and  dig 
a  well  in  Cheyenne,  Wyoming.  Later  he  took  a 
supply  of  goods  and  mioved  along  ahead  of  the  rail- 
road and  sold  goods  to  the  graders.  When  the 
track  reached  Promontory  Point  west  of  Ogden, 
Utah,  on  May  10,  1869,  his  store  business  was 
stopped.  He  went  to  the  then  new  state  of  Kansas 
and  began  dealing  in  Texas  cattle,  which  proved  un- 
successful, so  he  returned  to  Colorado.  Mr.  Coburn's 
next  venture  was  freighting  and  mining,  and  when 
the  Ute  Reservation  was  thrown  open  in  1882,  he 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  I7 

took  up  a  ranch  on  the  western  slope,  between  the 
present  towns  of  Paonia  and  Hotchkiss,  Colorado. 
He  started  a  commercial  orchard  on  his  ranch,  and 
has  since  made  his  home  there. 


CHAPTER  III. 

MY    FIRST    TRIP    ACROSS    THE    PLAINS. 

By  W.  S.  Coburn. 

After  several  months  in  business  in  Omaha, 
Nebraska,  my  partner,  Silas  Reena,  took  sick  with 
typhoid  fever  and  died,  and  after  closing  and  set- 
tling his  estate,  I  determined  to  come  west  to  Colo- 
rado. 

Accordingly  I  rigged  up  a  four-mule  team  and 
loaded  with  goods  for  Denver,  accompanied  by  fif- 
teen other  teams. 

When  we  arrived  at  Fort  Kearney,  about  two 
hundred  miles  west  of  Omaha,  we  were  notified  by 
the  officers  at  the  fort  that  we  could  proceed  no  fur- 
ther until  enough  emigrants  and  freighters  came 
along  to  make  a  party  of  one  hundred  well  armed 
men  and  that  we  should  have  to  organize  and  elect 
a  captain  whose  orders  would  have  to  be  obeyed  for 
self  protection  against  the  hostile  Indians,  who  were 
very  numerous  tor  the  next  four  hundred  miles.  At 
the  end  of  two  days  we  had  the  required  number  and 
proceeded  to  elect  a  captain  to  take  charge  and  much 


20  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

to  my  surprise  and  much  against  my  protest,  they 
elected  me  to  this  position.  I  argued  and  protested, 
having  never  had  any  experience  with  hostile  In- 
dians, but  to  no  purpose,  so  I  accepted  and  promised 
to  do  the  best  I  could  and  we  started  the  third  morn- 
ing with  emigrants  and  freighters,  including  women 
and  children  with  all  kinds  of  dispositions.  No  one 
but  those  who  have  had  experience  with  such  a  con- 
glomerate mass  of  humanity  can  realize  the  anxiety 
and  trials  to  keep  them  all  satisfied,  and  in  spite  of 
my  best  efforts  misunderstandings  would  arise. 

In  one  day's  drive  we  passed  the  remnants  of 
what  would  have  been  eleven  wagons,  loaded  with 
a  stamp  mill  for  Central  City,  Colorado,  that  had 
been  burned,  the  men  scalped  and  killed  and  the 
oxen  driven  away.  This  had  a  tendency  to  keep  the 
rear  teams  well  closed  up. 

This  was  in  July  and  the  weather  was  quite 
warm  in  the  middle  of  the  day  and  for  this  reason 
it  was  necessary  to  start  early  in  the  morning  and 
camp  for  a  few  hours  in  the  heat  of  the  day.  This 
starting    at    daylight    caused    much    inconvenience 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  21 


among  the  families  of  women  and  children  and  some 
of  the  men. 

However,  we  were  making  good  time  and  had 
seen  no  Indians  until  we  got  about  forty  miles  west 
of  Fort  Sedgwick,  when  we  camped  one  night  just 
before  crossing  some  sand  hills.  Our  crowd  had  be- 
gun to  think  that  we  were  comparatively  safe  from 
the  Indians  and  the  next  morning  some  of  the  fami- 
lies were  slow  in  getting  ready  to  start,  and  one  team- 
loaded  with  dry  goods  and  owned  by  two  men  by 
the  names  of  Auery  and  Smith  came  to  me  and  asked 
permission  to  pull  over  the  sand  hills  before  it  got 
too  hot,  saying  they  would  take  all  chances  of  see- 
ing Indians.  I  reluctantly  consented.  They  were 
about  one-half  mile  ahead  of  the  train  when  Mr. 
Auer}^  missed  his  meerschaum  pipe  and  stopped  and 
turned  to  search  for  it  in  the  wagon.  Smith  got  off 
the  wagon  and  said  he  would  walk  on  ahead.  While 
Auery  was  back  in  the  covered  wagon  he  heard  a 
war  whoop,  and  he  looked  out  and  saw  twelve  In- 
dians ride  from  behind  the  sand  hill  and  surround 
Smith,  scalp  and  kill  him  just  two  hundred  and 
twelve   feet  from  the   wagon.      Auery   thought  his 


22  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

time  had  come,  but  when  all  the  Indians  dismounted 
and  began  to  yell  and  dance  around  the  body  of 
Smith,  he  quickly  slid  off  the  wagon,  dropped  the 
tugs,  mounted  one  of  the  horses,  and  came  dashing 
back  to  the  train.  When  the  train  got  to  the  place 
of  the  killing,  the  Indians,  after  looting  the  wagon, 
had  mounted  their  ponies  and  went  flying  over  the 
prairie  with  whole  bolts  of  calico  and  red  flannel 
streaming  behind  them  in  the  wind. 

We  wrapped  poor  Smith's  body  up  in  a  blanket 
and  buried  him  near  where  he  fell.  We  were  then 
a  hundred  and  sixty  miles  from  Denver,  where  we 
arrived  safe  and  sound  on  the  seventh  day  of  August, 
1865. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

RAID    UP    THE    PLATTE. 

As  I' old  by  W.  S.  Co  burn. 

As  we  came  over  the  road  to  Denver,  we  noticed 
many  ruins  of  what  had  been  feed  stations.  This 
was  caused  by  a  general  attack  on  every  ranch  from 
Fort  Morgan  to  Fort  Sedgwick,  a  distance  of  one 
hundred  miles,  by  from  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  five 
hundred  Indians  to  each  ranch.  The  attack  occurred 
on  the  morning  of  the  fourteenth  day  of  January, 
1865. 

These  feed  ranches  or  stations  were  situated 
about  twelve  miles  apart,  a  half  day's  travel,  to  ac- 
commodate the  overland  travel  with  such  supplies 
they  often  ran  short  of. 

Every  ranch,  together  with  its  stables  and  hay 
stacks,  was  burned  to  the  ground,  except  one  owned 
and  occupied  by  Old  Man  Godfrey,  ever  afterward 
known  as  Old  Fort  Wicked. 

Many  people  were  scalped  and  killed,  but  the 
most  complete  annihilation  at  any  one  place  was  at 
the   American   Ranch,   where  Mr.   Morris  and  five 


24  TRUE   HISTORY  OF   SOME  OF 

hired  men  were  killed  and  his  wife  and  two  children 
(aged,  respectively,  eight  months  and  a  boy  four 
years)  were  taken  prisoners  and  made  to  ride  bare 
back  in  their  retreat  and  suffer  all  other  kinds  of 
indignities  of  these  red  devils  in  human  forms.  At 
the  end  of  two  days'  travel,  when  they  were  out  of 
reach  of  pursuers,  Old  Two  Face,  a  Cheyenne  chief, 
who  claimed  Mrs.  Morris  for  his  captive,  came  to  her 
and  took  the  baby  out  of  her  arms,  and  naturally  the 
child  cried  and  wanted  back  to  its  mother,  and  when 
he  tried  to  quiet  it  without  success,  he  became  en- 
raged and  took  it  by  one  foot  and  one  arm  and 
raised  it  as  high  as  he  could  above  his  head  and  threw 
it  to  the  ground  with  all  his  strength,  then  jumped 
on  it,  crushing  its  chest  and  ribs  and  then  walked 
away.  The  mother  took  the  child  and  did  all  she 
could  to  save  it.  In  about  two  hours  Two  Face 
(who  will  be  referred  to  later  when  he  gets  what  is 
coming  to  him),  returned  and  after  seeing  how  near 
dead  the  child  was,  ordered  her  to  go  out  on  a  sand 
hill  near  the  camp  and  dig  a  hole  with  her  hands 
and  bury  the  baby.  She  vigorously  refused  to,  so 
the  chief  then  pointed  to  the  sun  and  indicated  by 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  2J 

his  hand  that  when  the  sun  had  moved  a  certain  dis- 
tance, indicating  about  one  hour,  he  would  return 
and  if  she  had  not  obeyed  his  orders  he  would  scalp 
her.  Several  squaws  sympathized  with  her  and 
offered  to  help  her,  knowing  that  Two  Face  would 
kill  her  if  she  failed  to  comply.  Accordingly  she 
went  and  dug  the  little  grave,  with  the  help  of  the 
squaws,  and  wrapped  up  the  little  form  and  buried 
it  with  her  own  hands,  while  it  was  yet  alive.  The 
little  boy  was  traded  off  to  another  tribe  and  the 
mother  never  saw  him  again.  After  this  great  raid 
the  Indians  scattered  in  small  bands,  when  out  of 
reach  of  any  soldiers. 

Two  Face,  who  had  Mrs.  Morris,  went  north  and 
about  three  months  afterwards  appeared  at  Fort 
Benton,  Montana,  under  a  flag  of  truce  and  proposed 
to  sell  the  white  squaw  to  the  commander  of  the 
post.  The  officer  at  once  commenced  negotiations, 
and  after  giving  him  a  large  amount  of  flour,  tobacco, 
bacon  and  some  trinkets.  Two  Face  brought  Mrs. 
Morris  in  and  surrendered  her  and  was  allowed  to 
depart  as  he  had  entered,  under  a  white  rag  tied  on 
a  stick,  called  the  flag  of  truce.    The  officers  at  once 


26  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

furnished  her  some  money  and  transportation  on  a 
boat  bound  for  St.  Louis.  When  she  arrived  safely 
she  wrote  back  all  the  particulars  of  her  capture, 
long  stay  and  abuse  with  the  Indians. 

We  will  now  refer  to  the  time  when  the  attack 
was  made  on  the  American  Ranch.  All  the  men 
and  family  were  in  the  room  back  of  the  one  where 
all  the  goods  were  kept.  Mr.  Morris  was  playing  a 
fiddle  when  suddenly  Mrs.  Morris  heard  a  noise  in 
the  front  part  and  at  once  called  Mr.  Morris'  atten- 
tion to  it.  On  opening  the  door  he  saw  the  room 
was  full  of  Indians,  who  immediately  gave  the  war 
whoop  and  tried  to  kill  him.  He  then  opened  fire 
with  his  revolver  and  killed  three  of  them  before  they 
could  get  out  of  the  door.  After  barricading  the 
door  the  men  were  able  to  hold  their  own  until  the 
latter  part  of  the  day  when  the  Indians  set  fire  to 
the  stables  and  a  large  quantity  of  hay  adjoining 
the  house.  The  smoke  poured  into  the  house  in  such 
volumes  that  the  inmates  were  about  to  suffocate. 
Seeing  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  stand  it  much 
longer,  Mr.  Morris  took  half  a  bottle  of  strychnine 
that  he  kept  to  poison  wolves  with,  and  divided  it 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  11 


into  two  decanters  of  whiskey  behind  the  counter, 
after  shaking  it  up;  he  told  his  wife  to  take  the  chil- 
dren and  go  out  to  the  front  door  and  give  herself  up, 
while  he  and  the  men  would  try  to  escape  out  the 
back  way.  It  was  a  well  known  fact  that  the  In- 
dians seldom  killed  a  white  woman,  hence  the  plan 
taken.  The  men,  however,  were  all  killed  and 
scalped  a  short  distance  from  the  house. 

Just  before  the  attack,  two  men,  Gus  Hall  and 
one  called  Big  Steve  (half  or  two-thirds  of  the 
transient  men  at  the  ranches  were  known  only  by 
nick  names)  left  the  ranch  with  ox  teams  and  started 
to  the  cedar  canons,  sixteen  miles  away,  to  get  a  load 
of  wood.  About  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  soon 
after  the  fight  commenced,  the  Indians  discovered 
these  tv.'o  men,  where  they  had  crossed  the  river  on 
the  ice  and  eleven  Indians  went  over  to  get  their 
scalps.  Nine  of  the  Indians  made  an  attack  in  front 
while  two  of  them  took  positions  on  the  ice  under  the 
bank  below  and  above  the  two  men.  Here  they  main- 
tained a  cross  fire.  After  several  hours  Big  Steve 
was  killed  bv  the  cross  fire.     Soon  afterwards  Gus 


28  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


Hall  was  shot  in  the  right  leg,  breaking  it  between 
the  knee  and  ankle. 

It  was  getting  late  in  the  day  and  the  farm  house 
was  burned,  the  women  and  children  taken  prisoners 
and  the  men  killed,  all  right  in  plain  sight  of  Hall, 
who  was  unable  to  render  any  assistance. 

Hall  had  not  seen  the  Indians  on  the  river  for 
some  time  and  as  he  noticed  the  ones  at  the  ranch 
preparing  to  leave,  he  decided  to  raise  up  and  look 
over  the  bank  and  see  what  had  become  of  the  In- 
dians that  had  attacked  him.  He  had  already  made 
up  his  mind  that  they  would  soon  get  him  anyway, 
for  he  could  not  protect  himself  and  there  was  no 
white  person  for  miles  around,  and  Indians  lurking 
everj^where.  As  he  raised  up  on  one  leg  and  care- 
fully leaned  over  the  bank  another  object  was  just 
as  cautiously  raising  a  bow  and  arrow  and  aiming 
from  under  the  bank.  When  Hall  peeped  over  the 
bank,  an  arrow  shot  up  and  passed  clear  through  his 
chest  and  slid  twenty-two  feet  on  the  ice  back  of  him. 
Hall  said  he  fell  backwards  and  the  Indian  leaped  up 
the  bank  with  knife  in  his  hands  ready  to  scalp  him 
when  he  raised  his  revolver  and  shot  the  Indian, 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLOR.ADO  2() 


who  fell   dead  over  on  him.     The  rest  seeing  the 
others  leave  the  ranch  pulled  out  and  left. 

Gus    Hall,    with   one    leg   broken    and    pierced 
through  and  through,  night  coming  on  and  the  ranch 
laid  in  ruins  and  his  friends  killed,  was  left  in  an 
almost  helpless  condition.     He  thought  the  Wiscon- 
sin  Ranch,    fourteen   miles   down   the   road,   might 
possibly  be  all  right,  and  decided  to  try  to  get  to  it, 
so   he   commenced  his   journey,   on   his  hands   and 
knees,  crawling  down  the  ice.    Arriving  at  the  ranch, 
after  a  journey  lasting  seventeen  hours,  he  found  it 
in  ruins  and  everybody  gone.     The  sod  walls  were 
warm  and  the  ground  covered  with  a  foot  or  two  of 
erain  and  flour  that  was  also  warm.     Hall  made  up 
his  mind  that  he  would  die  that  night,  and  crawled 
in  on  the  warm  grain  where  he  was  sheltered  from 
the  wind  by  the  sod  walls  and  soon  became  uncon- 
scious.    A  train  of  wagons  with  about  a  hundred 
men  was  making  its  way  down  to  Omaha.     As  it 
passed  these  ranches  the  men  would  investigate  the 
ruins  to  see  how  many  had  been  killed  and  to  bury 
the  ones  they  found  dead.     \MTile  one  of  the  party 
was  looking  around  he  discovered  Hall  curled  up  in 


30  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

a  corner  and  holloed  to  the  rest,  "Here  is  a  dead 
man."  This  aroused  Hall  and  he  said,  "I  am  not 
dead  yet,  but  I  think  I  will  be  before  long." 

They  carried  him  out  and  put  him  in  a  wagon 
and  cared  for  him  the  best  they  could.  They  took 
him  on  to  Omaha,  hauling  him  four  hundred  miles. 
When  they  arrived  at  Omaha  the  doctors  amputated 
his  leg  and  cared  for  the  wound  caused  by  the  arrow. 
In  six  months'  time  he  got  a  cork  leg  and  foot  and 
came  back  to  my  place. 

Mr.  Godfrey's  ranch,  known  all  over  the  western 
country  as  Old  Fort  Wicked,  was  the  only  ranch 
that  was  not  either  partially  or  totally  destroyed  by 
this  raid. 

Godfrey  had  his  place  well  fortified  and  as  fast 
as  Mrs.  Godfrey  ran  the  balls,  he  would  call  to  his 
daughter,  "Hurry  up,  Celia;  more  balls,  Celia."  As 
fast  as  Celia  carried  the  bullets  to  him,  he  would  fire 
at  the  Indians,  and  at  every  shot  he  would  use  an 
oath  and  say,  "Take  that,  will  youT'  Nearly  every 
shot  took  effect,  and  with  another  oath  he  would  say, 
"There  goes  another."     The  Indians,  getting  more 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO    3£ 


than  they  bargained  for,  as  Godfrey  would  state  it, 
soon  went  on  to  the  next  ranch. 

They  succeeded  in  burning  the  hay  stacks  and 
sheds  at  the  Beaver  ranch,  but  the  inmates  saved 
themselves  by  using  the  sod  walls  as  fortifications. 

At  the  next  ranch  the  Murray  brothers  had  six 
hundred  head  of  cattle  shot  down  and  left  lying  on 
the  fiat;  the  hay  and  barns  were  burned,  but  the  men 
escaped. 


CHAPTER  V. 

MASSACRE  OF  THE  HUNGATE  FAMILY. 

In  June,  1863,  just  before  the  call  for  volun- 
teers to  subdue  the  Indians,  Isaac  P.  Vanwomer  had 
his  cattle  and  horses  on  the  range  in  the  Coal  creek 

country. 

Hungate,  with  his  family  and  five  hired  men, 
were  living  at  the  Vanwomer  camp,  as  Hungate  was 
looking  after  the  cattle  and  horses. 

About  four  o'clock  one  afternoon,  Hungate  and 
his  men  were  on  the  west  side  of  the  creek  when  the 
Indians  attacked  the  cabin.  Knowing  that  his  wife 
and  children  were  in  the  cabin  alone,  Mr.  Hungate 
hurried  across  to  their  aid,  but  was  too  late,  as  the 
Indians  had  already  murdered  them.  He  then  tried 
to  make  his  escape,  but  had  only  gone  a  few  miles 
before  the  Indians  overtook  him.  His  companion 
stood  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  creek  and  wit- 
nessed the  scene.  Realizing  that  he  could  do  noth- 
ing to  help  his  friend,  he  hurried  into  Denver  with 
the  news  of  the  uprising. 


3^  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


After  riding  forty-five  miles,  with  dangers  on 
every  side,  and  expecting  to  fall  into  the  hands  of 
the  dreaded  redskins  at  any  moment,  he  finally  ar- 
rived at  Vanwomer's  home  a  little  after  midnight. 

The  report  was  not  a  surprise  to  the  citizens  of 
Denver,  as  there  had  been  so  much  trouble  with  the 
Indians. 

It  did  not  take  long  for  these  brave,  stout- 
hearted and  strong  frontiersmen  to  get  ready  for  a 
start  towards  the  camp,  where  they  hoped  to  trail 
the  Indians  and  rescue  their  friend  and  avenge  the 
terrible  death  of  his  wife  and  children. 

About  noon  that  day,  sixty-four  heavily  armed 
and  well-mounted  men  bid  their  families  and  friends 
good-bye  and  turned  onto  the  trail  leading  to  the 
scene  of  the  massacre.  It  took  a  great  deal  of  cour- 
age to  start  on  such  a  mission,  for  these  men  of  the 
plains,  being  familiar  with  the  treacherous  habits  of 
the  Indians,  knew  that  when  they  ventured  out  on 
such  an  undertaking  they  were  in  great  danger,  not 
only  from  exposure  and  hunger,  but  captivity  by  the 
Indians,  which  meant  suff(^ring  and  torture,  eventu- 
ally ending  in  death. 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  35 

It  was  the  knowledge  of  the  terrible  agony  a 
captive  must  suffer  at  the  hands  of  the  bloodthirsty 
savages,  that  urged  the  unselfish  and  never-fearing 
pioneers  to  forget  their  danger  and  hurry  to  the  res- 
cue of  Hungate. 

After  traveling  all  that  afternoon  and  far  into 
the  night,  some  on  account  of  exhaustion,  or  horses 
giving  out  on  them,  and  for  different  reasons,  one 
by  one  they  were  compelled  to  turn  back.  When  at 
last,  worn  out,  they  decided  to  camp  for  the  night, 
only  four  were  left  to  go  on  with  the  work.  Three 
of  these  were  Alston  Shaw,  Dave  Armstrong  and 
Isaac  Vanwomer.  We  are  unable  to  learn  the  name 
of  the  fourth  one. 

Despite  the  many  dangers  surrounding  them, 
they  made  camp  just  two  hundred  yards  from  where 
the  Hungate  cabin  had  stood.  After  a  hasty  break- 
fast, early  the  next  morning,  these  four  men  began 
to  investigate  the  horrible  massacre.  They  found 
the  bedding  all  torn  up  and  the  feathers  from  the 
bed  ticks  scattered  all  over  the  yard;  the  cabin  was 
burned  to  the  ground;  a  few  feet  away  they  found 
the  body  of  Mrs.  Hungate;  it  was  lying  with  face 


36  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

downward  and  her  throat  cut  from  ear  to  ear.  In 
one  arm  she  was  holding  the  body  of  her  little  girl, 
whose  throat  was  also  cut.  Clasped  in  the  other 
arm  was  her  little  boy  with  his  throat  cut  and 
scalped  as  well.  Their  bodies  were  placed  in  a  con- 
\eyance,  brought  for  the  purpose,  to  take  the  dead 
back  to  Denver  for  burial. 

Vanwomer,  Shaw,  Armstrong  and  their  com- 
panion went  on  to  trail  the  Indians.  They  soon  found 
thirty  head  of  horses  that  had  been  stolen  from  Van- 
womer's  camp. 

Kungate's  saddle  horse  was  shod,  so  by  noticing 
the  tracks,  it  did  not  take  long  to  get  onto  his  trail 
and  also  made  it  easy  for  them  to  follow  it.  After 
going  about  two  miles  from  where  the  cabin  stood, 
Shaw  found  Hungate's  cowquirt.  The  stalk  was  all 
bloody,  which  indicated  a  struggle,  so  they  were  pre- 
pared for  the  worst. 

A  mile  or  two  from  where  the  quirt  v/as  found 
they  came  upon  his  body.  Such  a  sight  I  No  wonder 
these  strong  men  were  unnerved,  for  lying  before 
them,  stretched  on  the  ground,  horribly  cut  up,  was 
their  old  friend  Hungate.    He  had  an  arrow  in  each 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  37 


breast,  his  heart  cut  out,  scalped,  his  throat  cut  and 
Otherwise  greatly  mutilated  and  the  wounds  all  fly 
blown. 

The  body  was  sent  into  Denver  and  buried  by 
the  side  of  his  wife  and  children. 

Vanwomer,  Shaw  and  Armstrong  continued  their 
search  for  the  horses.  After  looking  several  days 
without  success  they  returned  to  Denver,  none  the 
worse  for  their  adventure. 

A  band  of  Indians  raided  up  the  Fountain  river, 
followed  up  Monument  creek  over  tlie  divide,  steal- 
ing horses  or  whatever  they  could  get  their  hands  on. 
On  Monument  creek  they  took  about  sixty  head  of 
horses  from  Teachout.  At  the  foot  of  the  divide  on 
the  south  side,  they  stole  a  number  of  McShane's 
horses;  crossing  the  divide  and  going  down  on  the 
head  of  Plum  creek,  they  stole  a  large  bunch  of 
horses  from  Wakeman  and  his  two  sons,  Mose  and 
Wash.     Then  they  headed  for  Cherry  creek. 

Henry  Teachout  raised  a  band  of  fifteen  or  twen- 
ty men  in  Colorado  Springs  and  started  in  pursuit. 
They  trailed  the  Indians  over  on  to  the  Bijou  Creek, 
but  were  unable  to  recover  anv  of  their  horses. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

JIM    REYNOLDS   AND    HIS   GANG. 

Jim  Reynolds  was  a  miner  working  at  California 
Gulch,  now  Leadville.  He  got  permission  from  the 
governor  of  Colorado  to  go  down  into  Texas,  his 
native  state,  and  raise  a  regiment  for  the  l^nion 
army.  When  he  started  for  Texas,  people  believed 
that  he  was  honest  in  his  object,  but  on  his  return 
they  soon  learned  that  his  undertaking  was  not  to 
aid  the  government,  but  to  take  advantage  of  it  dur- 
ing its  struggles  and  help  himself. 

He  left  Texas  with  twenty-two  men,  but  only 
had  eight  men  and  nine  first-class  horses  with  him  on 
the  Platte. 

The  following  narrative  is  only  one  of  their  nu- 
merous deeds.  Nearly  all  of  their  attacks  on  the 
stage  coaches  were  along  the  old  Powell  road.  This 
road  wound  around  through  timber  and  over  hills, 
down  on  the  Platte  again.  Being  a  well-concealed 
road,  it  afforded  shelter  along  the  sides  of  it  for  the 
outlaws  to  hide  in  so  they  could  not  be  seen  until 
they  would  spring  out  on  their  victims. 


40  TRUE   HISTORY  OF   SOME  OF 

This  Stage  line  was  owned  by  Billy  Berry,  Ad 
Williamson  and  Bob  Spotswood.  They  ran  the 
stage  from  Denver  by  Breckenridge,  Fairplay,  Alma 
and  back  into  Denver. 

On  one  occasion,  Reynolds  and  his  gang  held  up 
the  coach  and  robbed  it  of  eighteen  thousand  dollars 
in  gold  dust,  the  United  States  mail  and  express. 
Among  the  passengers  was  a  young  girl  who  had 
been  working  in  the  hotel  at  Fairplay  and  saved  up 
four  hundred  dollars  of  her  own  money  and  had  the 
same  amount  of  her  brother-in-law's  money,  which 
the  robbers  took  from  her.  Mr.  Dunbar,  one  of  the 
passengers,  as  soon  as  he  saw  the  robbers,  got  a  bottle 
and  played  drunk.  When  one  of  them  came  up  to  him 
he  said,  "If  you  fellers  com.e — hie — hie — come  over 
here — hie — hie — I'll  hit  yer  on  the  nose — hie — hie 
— hie — with  this  bottle — hie."  The  bandits  just 
supposed  he  was  a  penniless  drunkard  and  left  him 
alone,  so  he  saved  all  his  money  and  had  the  most 
money  of  all  the  passengers. 

A  band  of  Denver  citizens  formed  a  posse  under 
George  Shoop  and  went  in  pursuit  of  Reynolds  and 
his  gang. 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  4I 

The  outlaws  were  camped  in  the  timber  about 
ten  miles  down  on  the  Platte  below  South  Park. 
They  were  always  on  the  alert  and  expected  to  be 
chased,  so  buried  the  money  and  other  stolen  valu- 
ables in  a  well  chosen  spot  near  the  road.  It  is  said 
that  even  today  there  are  people  hunting  along  the 
old  road  for  the  buried  fortune,  while  others  say  they 
know  it  was  found  shortly  after  the  execution  of 
Reynolds. 

The  posse  which  was  familiar  with  the  vicinity 
around  the  outlaws'  camp,  when  once  on  their  trail, 
was  not  long  in  finding  them. 

Reynolds  and  his  men  being  overpowered  and 
taken  at  a  disadvantage  had  no  other  means  to  save 
themselves  except  scatter  and  take  their  chances. 

Reynolds  was  shot  through  the  arm,  shattering 
it  from  the  elbow  to  the  wrist,  but  he  and  two  others 
escaped.  Four  of  their  companions  were  taken  pris- 
oners, while  one  was  killed. 

A  few  da}s  later,  Reynolds  was  suffering  so  with 
his  arm  that  he  went  into  Pueblo  for  medical  atten- 
tion and  gave  himself  up  to  the  authorities  there. 
He  was  taken  to  Denver  and  placed  in  jail  with  his 


42  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

four  companions.  It  is  said  that  while  he  was  hand- 
cuffed and  sitting  on  a  box  in  front  of  his  cell  door, 
he  sang  in  a  clear  rich  voice  and  with  such  a  depth 
of  feeling,  a  beautiful  hymn.  Being  in  such  contrast 
to  the  life  he  had  been  living  and  a  song  the  men  sel- 
dom heard  since  leaving  their  old  homes,  it  touched 
the  hearts  of  all  who  heard  it. 

The  outlaws  were  given  a  trial  under  martial  law 
and  sentenced  to  be  shot.  Owing  to  the  rebellious 
and  antagonistic  feeling  among  the  people  and  the 
presence  of  rebels  in  Denver,  who  would  be  expected 
to  interfere,  it  was  decided  not  to  carry  out  the  sen- 
tence in  Denver. 

Therefore,  Jim  Reynolds  and  his  four  remaining 
comrades  were  confined  in  the  jail  during  July  and 
part  of  August. 

August  19th,  1864,  when  Company  A  of  the  3rd 
Regiment  of  Colorado  Volunteers  was  ordered  to 
Fort  Lyons,  they  were  also  ordered  to  take  the  five 
prisoners  along  and  send  them  on  to  headquarters  at 
Fort  Leavenworth,  Kansas. 

The  soldiers  marched  up  Cherry  creek,  conveying 
the  bandits   in   the   ambulance   with   Henry   Crow, 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  43 

assisted  by  an  escort  having  charge  of  them.  The 
second  day  out  they  were  guarded  by  Sloan  and  an 
escort. 

Aston  Shaw  had  been  kept  on  guard  and  escort 
since  the  first  day  out.  On  the  morning  of  the  third 
day  he  went  to  Captain  Cree  and  said,  "How  does 
it  come,  Captain,  that  I  have  to  be  with  the  prisoners 
all  the  time?" 

"Shaw,  I  want  a  man  with  them  that  will  keep 
those  fellows  prisoners  and  not  let  them  escape." 

"Well,  I  will  tell  you  this  much,  Cree,  I  am  not 
going  to  herd  "em  every  night." 

"What  will  you  do  about  it?" 

"Go  kill  the  whole  bunch." 

"That  is  just  what  we  want  done;  they  were 
tried  and  sentenced  to  be  shot.  We  dared  not  carr}' 
out  the  sentence  in  Denver,  and  sending  them  to  Fort 
Leavenworth  was  just  a  bluff.  We  are  to  dispose  of 
them  on  the  road  somewhere  unknown  to  anyone. 
I  have  sent  out  Crow  and  Sloan,  but  they  have  failed 
to  carry  out  orders,  so  now  I  will  turn  them  over  to 
vou.  You  understand  what  you  are  to  do  with 
them." 


44  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

"I  will  do  it,  Captain,  if  you  will  let  me  pick  my 
escort." 

"Pick  any  men  5'ou  want." 

Picking  Ad  Williamson,  Adam  Smith,  A.  Nei- 
land,  Oscar  Packard,  Isaac  Beckman  and  Frank 
Parks  for  his  escort,  Alston  Shaw  took  charge  of  Jim 
Reynolds  and  his  companions. 

The  ambulance  containing  the  condemned  pris- 
oners followed  the  regiment  down  the  Squirrel  Creek 
road.  After  traveling  a  few  hours  Shaw  noticed  a 
little  bluff  that  would  conceal  him  from  the  regiment, 
so  ordered  Williamson  to  drive  the  ambulance  back 
of  the  bluff.  When  the  team  stopped,  he  ordered 
the  shackled  prisoners  out,  then  turning  to  Reynolds, 
he  said,  "Jim,  you  are  supposed  to  be  the  captain  of 
this  company.  I  have  your  obligations  where  you 
were  sworn  to  stay  together  until  your  bones  bleached 
on  the  prairie." 

"That  was  our  obligations." 

"Jim,  this  is  your  finish.  If  you  have  anything 
or  any  word  you  want  sent  to  your  people,  give  me 
their  address  and  I  will  see  that  it  is  done." 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  45 

"No,  I  do  not  want  any  of  my  people  to  know 
what  became  of  me." 

Reynolds,  nor  any  of  his  companions,  would  not 
give  a  word  of  information  concerning  his  home 
or  people. 

"Jim,  30U  have  no  show.  Here  is  an  order  from 
the  commander-in-chief  of  the  western  department 
stating  that  you  have  been  tried  by  court  martial  and 
sentenced  to  be  shot." 

"That  is  just  what  I  expected  and  I  am  ready." 

"Would  you  rather  be  shot  separate  or  all  to- 
gether?' 

"You  read  our  obligations  where  it  said  we 
would  stick  together  until  our  bones  bleached  on  the 
prairie,  and  that  is  the  way  I  prefer  to  die." 

Shaw  placed  Reynolds  in  the  center  with  two  of 
his  comrades  on  each  side,  then  had  the  escort  stand 
sixteen  feet  in  front  of  them. 

Jim  Reynolds  knelt  on  his  knees,  pushed  his  hat 
back  from  his  forehead,  folded  his  arms  across  his 
breast  and  said,  "I  am  ready,"  being  game  to  the 
last.  But  one  of  his  men  began  to  cry  and  said,  "I 
never  killed  anybody."     Shaw  replied,  "Remember 


46  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

the  story  of  old  dog  Tray.  You  were  caught  in  bad 
company." 

Shaw  loaded  the  guns,  putting  a  blank  cartridge 
in  one  so  the  men  could  not  tell  whose  bullets  did 
the  killing.  He  then  ordered  them  all  to  fire  at  the 
same  time  on  the  man  to  the  right.  Reloading  the 
guns,  he  ordered  them  to  fire  at  the  next.  They  re- 
peated this  until  all  the  prisoners  were  killed. 

Just  before  the  orders  were  carried  out,  one  of 
the  escort  dropped  his  gun  and  began  crying.  "Frank, 
what's  wrong^"  "Pick  up  your  gun  and  hold  your- 
self in  readiness,"  commanded  Shaw. 

To  make  sure  that  they  were  all  dead.  Ad  Will- 
iamson shot  each  in  the  head  with  a  big  brass 
mounted  revolver. 

When  the  execution  was  over,  Neiland,  Smith 
and  Shaw  took  off  the  shackles  and  handcuffs,  and 
one  of  them  said,  "We  will  leave  you  free  to  carry 
out  the  last  of  your  obligations,  'To  stick  together 
while  your  bones  bleach  on  the  prairie.'  " 

The  escort  just  let  them  lie  as  they  fell  and 
turned  on  down  the  road  to  join  the  regiment.     On 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  47 

the  way  down  they  met  Captain  Cree,  who  de- 
manded, "Where  are  those  prisoners,  Shaw'?" 

"We  stopped  down  there  in  a  hollow  to  dig  some 
potatoes  and  they  got  away  in  the  brush  and  we 
couldn't  find  them." 

Cree  whirled  his  horse  and  started  in  pursuit  of 
the  escaping  prisoners.  After  a  time  he  returned 
without  them  and  that  night  in  camp  he  wrote  a  re- 
port according  to  Shaw's  account  of  how  the  pris- 
oners escaped  and  sent  it  in  to  Denver.  The  disap- 
pearance of  Jim  Reynolds  and  his  gang  was  pub- 
lished in  the  Rocky  Mountain  News,  the  only  news- 
paper in  Colorado  at  that  time,  according  to  Captain 
Cree's  report. 

The  true  statement  of  the  execution  was  not 
made  known  for  about  twenty  years  afterward. 

The  executing  of  these  men  was  a  hard  task  for 
Shaw  and  his  escort  to  do.  But  it  was  orders  from 
headquarters  and  if  they  failed  to  carry  them  out  be- 
fore reaching  Fort  Lyons,  they  would  have  shared 
the  same  fate  as  the  outlaws. 


A.  K.  SHA'W 


CHAPTER  VII. 

ALSTON    KNOX   SHAW. 

Alston  Knox  Shaw  was  born  February  1 1,  1833, 
at  Townson,  Norfork  county,  in  Canada  West. 
Though  a  Canadian  by  birth,  he  is  really  a  Holland 
Yankee.  His  grandfather  on  his  father's  side  came 
over  in  the  Mayflower  while  his  mother's  people  be- 
longed to  the  oldest  colony  in  the  New  England 
states.  From  both  sides  of  the  family  he  is  a  direct 
descendant  of  soldiers  of  Revolutionary  fame.  His 
grandmother,  Mrs.  John  Martin,  was  a  cousin  of 
Ethan  Allen. 

After  the  states  began  to  get  settled  the  family 
drifted  into  Canada,  then  a  new  frontier.  Being  of 
a  frontier-loving  class  of  people,  Alston  Shaw  natu- 
rally drifted  into  the  West,  where  there  was  a  larger 
scope  for  a  roving  and  scouting  disposition  to  wander 
in. 

The  first  fifteen  years  of  Al  Shaw's  life  was 
spent  on  his  father's  ranch  in  Canada  with  his  nine 
sisters  and  six  brothers.     He  then  worked  as  an  ap- 


so  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

prentice  for  three  years  in  Austin's  blacksmith  shop 
in  Simcoe. 

At  the  end  of  the  three  years,  he  and  another 
apprentice,  John  Lemons,  formed  a  partnership  and 
started  a  shop  of  their  own  in  the  country.  They 
were  together  about  two  years,  when  the  restless  dis- 
position urged  Shaw  to  move  on,  so  he  sold  his  in- 
terest to  his  partner  and  got  the  other  boys  to  take 
him  to  Branford,  the  nearest  railway  station,  a  dis- 
tance of  twenty  miles.  He  took  the  train  for  Chi- 
cago, 111.,  then  drifted  down  to  Rock  Island,  up  the 
Mississippi  river  to  Fulton  City,  finally  stopping  at 
Union  Grove,  111.,  a  year.  After  an  absence  of  two 
years,  he  returned  to  his  home  in  Canada  and  re- 
mained there  during  the  winter  and  worked  his 
father's  and  brother's  teams  in  a  lumber  camp. 

The  following  spring  he  started  westward  again 
and  has  never  gone  back  to  his  old  home.  When  he 
got  word  that  his  mother  was  dangerously  ill  he 
started  home,  but  had  only  gone  a  day  or  two's  travel 
across  the  plains,  when  word  was  brought  to  him 
that  she  was  dead,  so  he  turned  around  and  went 
back  to  the  frontier. 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  ^l 


He  lived  at  Union  Grove  two  years;  then  in 
1859,  he  started  for  Pike's  Peak,  but  only  got  to 
Fort  Kearney,  Neb.,  when  things  began  to  go  wrong. 
He  gave  away  his  interest  in  the  outfit  and  started 
back  to  the  Missouri  river  on  foot.  He  worked  his 
way  back  to  Union  Grove,  111.  In  the  spring  of  '60 
he  again  pulled  out  for  Pike's  Peak  and  in  the  fall 
of  the  same  year  he  arrived  in  Denver.  Shortly 
afterwards  he  went  to  Central  City  and  worked  in 
the  mines  all  winter. 

In  1862  he  opened  a  livery  barn  in  Denver.  This 
same  year  he  moved  a  family  and  some  goods  up  to 
Montana,  returning  to  Denver  in  the  spring  of  '64, 
when  the  Indian  raids  and  massacres  were  starting. 

Shaw  loaded  his  wagon  and  made  a  start  for 
Montana  just  about  the  time  martial  law  was  de- 
clared. He  had  only  gone  a  few  miles  when  he  was 
stopped  and  his  teams  put  into  service.  He  loaned 
the  wagon  to  a  woman  and  she  went  to  Montana 
with  it.  With  his  teams  and  wagon  gone  he  was 
practically  "broke,"  so  when  the  call  for  volunteers 
was  given  in  the  summer  of  '64,  he  enlisted.  He 
served  until  the  regiment  was  discharged.     In  the 


52  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

spring  of  '65  he  went  to  freighting  for  Colonel  Chiv- 
ington  and  made  thirteen  trips  across  the  plains  from 
Fort  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  to  Denver. 

In  1873  he  married  and  moved  to  Saguache, 
Colorado,  where  he  went  into  the  livery  business.  He 
had  two  children,  a  boy  and  girl;  both  died  in  their 
childhood.  Later  he  carried  the  mail  to  Los  Pinos 
Agency,  a  distance  of  forty  miles;  after  this  hauled 
produce  into  Leadville. 

In  1883  he  moved  over  to  Ruby,  Gunnison 
county,  where  he  freighted  for  several  years.  Com- 
ing down  on  the  western  slope,  he  bought  a  ranch, 
lived  on  it  four  years,  then  sold  out  to  a  sheep  man 
and  moved  to  where  Juanita  now  is  and  bought  an- 
other ranch.  In  1908  he  sold  it,  and  since  then  he 
has  been  knocking  around  Paonia  and  Hotchkiss, 
Colorado,  where  everyone  knows  him  as  Uncle  Shaw. 
He  spends  his  time  in  caring  for  and  training  his  five 
thoroughbred  horses. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

PROCEEDINGS  OF   COMPANY   "a" 

Js  Told  by  A.  K.  Shcrju. 

Company  "A"  under  Captain  Theodore  Cree  and 
Lieutenants  Charles  Cass  and  Al  Soper  was  mustered 
in  at  Denver  and  ordered  to  go  down  the  Fountain 
river  and  take  Jim  Reynolds  and  his  gang  with  them. 
It  has  been  stated  in  a  previous  chapter  how  the  regi- 
ment disposed  of  the  prisoners. 

The  Company  moved  on  south,  following  the  old 
Squirrel  Creek  road  to  Colorado  City.  Here  the  sol- 
diers were  divided  into  small  squads  and  stationed 
along  the  Fountain  road  from  Colorado  City  to  the 
present  site  of  Pueblo,  to  protect  the  settlers  and 
guard  the  United  States  mail.  During  the  stop  at 
Fountain,  which  was  all  of  September  and  part  of 
October,  six  soldiers,  Albert  Neiland,  Alston  Shaw, 
Ad  Williamson,  Ike  Bakeman,  Joe  Connor  and  Os- 
car Packard,  were  detailed  to  escort  for  the  stage  car- 
rying the  U.  S.  mail  from  Pueblo  to  Colorado  City. 

They  made  three  trips  a  week,  going  up  one  day 
and  back  the  next,  making  their  headquarters  at 
Dick  Ooten's  ranch  near  Pueblo, 


^4  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


To  break  the  monotony  of  camp  life  the  soldiers 
would  stir  up  a  little  fun.  Company  "A"  had  a 
team  of  four  unusual  jolly  fellows,  these  were  Shaw, 
Neiland,  Packard  and  Jim  Taggart.  What  one 
could  not  think  of  the  others  would.  If  all  their 
pranks  were  related  it  would  make  a  book  itself,  so 
only  a  few  will  be  told  to  show  how  they  spent  the 
time  when  off  duty. 

In  the  hills  north  of  Hall's  and  Turl's  ranches 
on  Squirrel  Creek,  at  the  foot  of  the  divide,  was  a 
herd  of  cattle  on  the  range.  The  soldiers  discovered 
the  herd  and  made  up  their  minds  to  have  some  fresh 
meat.  Neiland,  Shaw  and  a  few  of  their  companions 
stole  and  killed  a  heifer,  burying  its  hide  in  the  sand, 
and  taking  the  meat  into  camp. 

That  evening  one  of  the  cattlemen  missed  one 
out  of  his  bunch  of  cattle  and  after  looking  around 
he  found  tracks  in  the  sand.  Following  these  he  came 
upon  a  pile  of  loose  sand  and  suspecting  the  cause 
of  it,  he  began  to  dig  and  found  the  hide.  Having 
an  idea  that  the  soldiers  knew  something  about  it, 
he  immediately  hurried  into  camp  and  told  his 
troubles  to  the  captain. 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  ^^ 


Captain  Cree  was  quite  sure  which  soldiers  were 
guilty,  but  he  called  them  all  out  and  began  to  ques- 
tion, first  the  man  and  then  the  soldiers,  who  seemed 
to  know  nothing  about  it.  Finally  Cree  said,  "Shaw, 
what  are  you  going  to  do  about  it*?" 

Shaw  studied  a  moment  before  replying,  "Well, 
we  stole  the  heifer  and  she  had  his  brand  on  all  right, 
and  now  we  are  trapped,  so  there  is  only  one  thing 
for  us  to  do,  boys — go  down  in  your  pockets  and 
cough  up." 

After  the  collection  was  taken  there  was  fifteen 
dollars  to  pay  for  the  fresh  meat.  The  owner  think- 
ing it  a  fairly  good  price  for  the  heifer  went  away 
happy. 

The  next  day  Neiland  and  Shaw  were  given  a 
layoff  from  the  escort,  so  wanting  a  little  adventure, 
they  left  their  horses  and  stole  a  couple  of  the  cabby- 
yard  horses  (all  broken-down  and  worn-out  horses 
were  called  cabby-yard  horses).  After  mounting 
their  stolen  steeds  the  two  soldiers  struck  out  for 
Pike's  Peak,  eight  miles  from  camp  for  a  day's  hunt. 
They  did  not  see  any  signs  of  game,  so  turned  back 
for  camp,  getting  in  about  noon.     Colonel  Chiving- 


^6  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

ton,  who  had  been  inspecting  the  company  and  settle- 
ments, rode  into  camp  just  in  time  for  dinner.  He 
noticed  the  meat  tasted  unusually  tender  and  juicy, 
so  asked,  "What  kind  of  meat  is  this?"  Shaw  an- 
swered in  an  unconcerned  sort  of  way,  "Elk,"  and 
went  on  eating. 

The  Colonel  just  laughed.  Of  course,  he  knew 
better  and  also  had  a  strong  suspicion  where  the  meat 
came  from,  but  nothing  was  said  as  it  was  against 
the  discipline  of  the  regiment  to  play  such  tricks. 
It  was  Colonel  Chivington's  duty  to  punish  the  sol- 
diers if  he  really  knew  that  they  had  stolen  the  meat. 
But  the  kind-hearted  Colonel  sympathized  with  the 
volunteers  in  their  struggles,  and  did  not  wish  to 
inflict  any  unnecessary  trials  on  them,  and  as  long 
as  the  calf  had  been  paid  for,  he  just  played  green 
on  the  meat  question  and  enjoyed  his  feast  on  elk. 
He  was  greatly  amused  at  Shaw's  way  of  getting 
out  of  what  might  have  been  a  serious  scrape. 

One  day  several  of  the  soldiers  took  dinner  at  a 
farm  house  about  eight  miles  from  their  camp.  They 
saw  the  farmer's  wife  making  butter  in  the  spring 
house.     Oscar  Packard  took  particular  notice  that 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  57 

there  was  a  "big  heap"  of  butter,  and  how  every  bite 
just  called  for  more.  One  evening  bread  was  handed 
to  the  soldiers  without  butter,  which  was  very  often 
the  case.  Oscar  suddenly  remembered  how  good  the 
butter  tasted  a  few  days  before  and  vowed  he  would 
have  some  for  breakfast.  When  the  camp  fires  had 
burned  low  and  all  was  still,  Oscar  cautiously  left 
camp  to  pay  his  respects  to  the  spring  house,  eight 
miles  away.  At  first  the  dogs  interfered  but  he 
managed  to  get  around  them,  entering  the  spring 
house  he  found  the  butter,  that  was  not  all,  he  also 
found  a  wolf  trap  fastened  to  his  heel.  The  trap 
had  been  set  and  had  a  double  spring  on  it.  Oscar 
took  the  butter  and  started  home,  the  trap  following 
along  behind  with  its  own  accord,  for  he  could  not 
unfasten  it.  Arriving  in  camp  about  daylight,  his 
comrades  relieved  him  of  the  butter  and  trap.  They 
took  the  trap  into  Colorado  City  and  traded  it  for 
whiskey.  This  made  the  soldiers  think  they  had  an 
up-to-date  bill  of  fare  for  several  days. 

Things  were  getting  a  little  too  funny,  so  Captain 
Cree  gave  orders  not  to  leave  the  camp  without  per- 


^8  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

mission.  If  they  did,  they  could  expect  punishment 
on  return. 

As  usual  Neiland  and  Shaw  were  first  to  disobey 
orders.  They  left  their  horses  on  the  picket  rope 
and  again  stole  cabby-yard  horses  and  went  on  an- 
other hunting  trip,  returning  with  the  same  fruitless 
results  but  meeting  with  a  different  reception  in 
camp. 

Captain  Cree  meant  what  he  said  about  punish- 
ment. Although  Al  and  Bert  were  favorite  soldiers 
of  his  he  determined  to  enforce  his  orders,  conse- 
quently that  night  they  were  put  on  guard  without 
any  supper.  These  two  jolly  soldiers  took  it  in  good 
part  and  were  willing  to  pay  for  their  fun  and  at  the 
same  time  to  get  fun  out  of  their  punishment. 

The  first  question  before  them  was  how  to 
scheme  a  way  to  get  something  to  eat.  They  were 
not  long  in  finding  a  way. 

Al  went  down  to  the  creek  and  got  two  strong 
willows.  He  and  Bert  split  these  on  the  end  and 
pushed  them  through  the  openings  on  the  cabin 
where  the  chinking  had  been  knocked  out.  Then 
the  comrades  on  the  inside  put  the  edge  of  a  tin 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  59 

plate  in  the  end  of  the  willows  and  when  the  officers 
were  not  looking,  the  sergeant,  who  was  passing  the 
rations  around,  would  fill  up  the  plates,  then  Al  and 
Bert  would  pull  them  out  and  enjoy  their  suppers  in 
their  private  dining  room  on  the  outside. 

As  the  night  grew  darker,  duller  grew  their  tread 
up  and  down  the  picket  rope,  so  just  to  break  the 
silence  and  to  disturb  the  slumbers  of  the  other  sol- 
diers, these  two  guards  would  keep  hallooing  to  each 
other. 

Near  the  camp  was  a  farm  which  had  been  de- 
serted on  account  of  the  Indian  raids,  and  the  cattle 
had  been  driven  away  by  the  raiders.  About  mid- 
night some  of  the  bunch  drifted  back  to  their  old 
homes.  The  clouds  had  broken  away  and  the  night 
grew  lighter,  so  Al  and  Bert  run  the  cattle  in  a  corral 
and  got  the  Company's  branding  iron,  then  roped  and 
began  branding  some  of  the  young  stock.  Just  as 
they  were  putting  three  A's  on  a  two-year-old,  one 
A  to  represent  the  Company,  one  for  Albert  Nei- 
land  and  the  other  for  Alston  Shaw,  they  were 
startled  by  a  stern  voice  saying,  "What  are  you  fel- 
lows doing  there?    Is  that  the  way  to  guard  picket?" 


6o  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


Looking  up  they  saw  Captain  Cree.  Being  in  need 
of  help  and  since  the  Captain  was  of  a  venturesome 
disposition,  they  talked  him  into  the  notion  of  help- 
ing them  in  their  midnight  frolic.  Cree  had  been 
smoked  out  of  his  quarters  by  an  antelope  head  that 
Shaw  had  poked  down  the  flue.  As  long  as  he  was 
up,  he  decided  to  go  down  to  the  picket  rope  and  see 
how  the  guards  were  getting  along.  Coming  to  the 
picket  and  not  finding  them,  he  looked  around  and 
finally  heard  a  noise  in  the  direction  of  the  corrals. 
He  went  down  and  perched  himself  on  a  nearby 
fence  where  he  could  not  be  seen  by  the  men  in  the 
corral  and  watched  the  performance  before  he  made 
his  presence  known  and  joined  in  the  fun. 

Rations  were  getting  low  and  they  had  just  the 
same  old  things  over  and  over.  Oscar  Packard,  who 
was  noted  for  his  appetite,  wanted  a  change  of  fare 
and  intended  to  get  it.  Down  the  river  about  a  mile 
from  camp  was  a  nice  looking  potato  patch.  Oscar's 
mouth  began  to  water.  "Wouldn't  they  taste  good^ 
Ain't  had  a  good  old  Irish  spud  since  Adam  was  a 
yearling.  If  I  don't  get  one  now  my  name  ain't 
Packard."     So  saying,  he  took  a  nose  bag  from  his 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  6l 

saddle  and  jumped  over  the  fence  into  the  patch. 
He  was  soon  busy  grubbing  out  potatoes,  so  busy 
was  he  that  he  did  not  notice  the  farmer  approaching, 
and  suddenly  he  was  conscious  of  an  angry  and 
stammering  voice  trying  to  order  him  out  of  the 
patch.  Oscar  was  not  going  to  be  cheated  out  of 
such  a  square  meal  so  easily,  no  siree;  he  had  dared 
too  many  of  the  Indians'  bullets  to  let  a  volley  of  hot 
words  make  him  run,  so  he  just  went  on  digging 
and  quietly  said,  "These  spuds  are  not  very  big,  are 
they^' 

"No — no — n — no,  they  a — ain't  ver}-  b bi — 

big  po — po — po — pota — toes."  While  the  farmer 
was  stammering  out  the  answer,  Oscar  dug  a  few 
more.  When  he  was  through  digging  all  the  pota- 
toes and  was  ready  to  leave,  he  took  a  piece  of  to- 
bacco from  his  pocket,  bit  off  a  chew  and  offered  the 
angry  farmer  some.  While  the  farmer  was  saying, 
"I  d — do — don't  ch — ch — chew  to — to — bacco. 
Drop  th — th — those  po — po — ta — ta — toes."  Oscar 
was  over  the  fence  and  on  his  wa}-  for  camp  with  his 
precious  sack  laden  with  potatoes. 


62  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

Although  these  soldiers  were  venturesome  and 
mischievous,  rough  and  wild  in  outward  appearance, 
they  were  honest  to  the  core  and  true  men  through 
and  through. 

The  following  sketches  will  illustrate  that  even 
after  many  years  spent  in  the  wilderness  they  had 
not  entirely  forgotten  the  lessons  learned  at  home, 
or  the  sweet  influence  of  that  mother  way  back  there 
many  hundreds  of  miles  in  the  civilized  world. 

All  up  and  down  the  Fountain  were  homes  where 
the  inmates  had  hurriedly  fled,  leaving  everything 
just  as  they  were,  A  soldier  who  was  lacking  re- 
spect for  himself  or  any  one  else,  entered  one  of  these 
homes  and  arrayed  himself  in  one  of  the  girls'  finery; 
he  then  went  down  near  the  camp  and  promenaded 
among  the  soldiers  and  made  light  of  all  girls  in 
general.  The  other  soldiers,  remembering  sisters  or 
daughters  at  home,  resented  the  insult  thrown  at 
them,  so  the  soldier  was  taken  to  the  farm  house, 
upon  the  return  of  the  family,  and  made  to  get  down 
on  his  knees  and  apologize  for  his  conduct. 

Another  one,  who  was  not  worthy  to  be  called  a 
soldier,  would  steal  little  trinkets,  that  were  of  no 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  63 


use  to  him  but  might  be  highly  valued  by  the  owners 
as  remembrances  from  home  or  other  keepsakes.    Be- 
fore long  those  who  missed  articles  became  suspicious 
of  him  and  got  permission  to  search  his  bundle.     As 
they  had  expected,  the  missing  articles  were  found. 
Being  of  a  demoralized  nature  he  naturally  tried 
to  lie  out  of  it.     Five  soldiers  took  him  down  to  the 
creek  and  kept  dipping  him  under  the  water  until  he 
confessed.     He  went  into  the  camp  and  complained 
to  the  Captain  of  the  soldiers'   treatment  towards 
him,  ending  by  asking,  "Captain,  what  are  you  going 
to  do  to  those  five  fellows'?"    The  Captain,  knowing 
that  the  soldiers  were  justified  in  their  act,  replied, 
"Why,  I  can't  do  anything  with  five  men."     The 
soldier  said  he  couldn't  either  and  walked  away,  de- 
ciding he  had  better  leave  good  enough  alone. 

A  short  time  after  this  the  Company  was  ordered 
back  over  the  divide,  down  the  other  side  into 
Bijou  Basin.  Here  the  men  did  not  feel  so  good 
natured.  It  was  cold  and  stormy,  bedding  was 
scarce  and  rations  were  low.  Captain  Cree  had 
bought  straw  to  feed  the  horses,  but  the  soldiers  used 
some  of  it  to  lie  on  and  cover  with  their  blankets. 


64  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


There  had  been  more  blankets  ordered  but  for  some 
unknown  cause  they  had  failed  to  arrive.  The  Cap- 
tain had  put  a  horse  blanket  on  his  horse;  before  a 
great  while  he  discovered  it  was  gone,  so  he  put  an- 
other one  on  it,  but  it,  too,  disappeared.  Finally  he 
sent  an  escort  around  to  search  the  tents.  Jim  Tag- 
gart  hurried  ahead  of  the  escort  and  ran  into  Nei- 
land  and  Shaw's  tent,  which  was  right  by  a  straw 
stack,  and  pushed  the  horse  blankets  out  under  the 
edge  of  the  tent  into  the  straw  stack.  He  did  not 
want  his  friends  to  be  punished  for  trying  to  protect 
themselves  from  the  cold.  The  blankets  were  found, 
but  none  of  the  soldiers  knew  how  they  got  there. 

The  Company  was  stationed  here  for  four  weeks 
and  during  that  time  the  men  and  horses  suffered  a 
great  deal  with  the  cold.  It  snowed  three  or  four 
feet  after  their  arrival  in  the  Basin. 

The  meat  supply  was  getting  low  again,  so  Cap- 
tain Cree  and  several  of  the  soldiers  went  out  to  look 
for  some  game.  They  ran  on  to  some  antelope  and 
turned  them  down  the  trail  into  camp.  The  soldiers 
all  took  a  shot  at  them  and  nearly  every  tent  had  an 
antelope  hanging  outside. 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  65 

At  last,  much  to  their  delight,  orders  came  for 
the  Company  to  move  back  down  on  the  Fountain 
near  Dick  Ooten's  place,  forty  miles  below  old  Colo- 
rado City. 

The  snow  was  so  deep  on  the  north  side  of  the 
divide,  that  it  took  all  of  one  day  for  the  company 
to  i)low  its  way  through  the  snow  and  out  of  the 
timber.  It  did  not  reach  the  summit  before  dark,  so 
the  cold  and  tired  soldiers  were  compelled  to  put 
their  blankets  down  on  the  snow  and  wait  until 
morning.  One  soldier,  who  was  sick,  died  during  the 
night.  It  was  supposed  that  the  extreme  cold  and 
exposure,  together  with  his  weak  condition,  hurried 
his  death. 

Next  morning  about  daylight  the  company 
crossed  over  the  divide  and  reached  the  Dirty  Wo- 
man's ranch  (so  called  because  the  house  was  always 
dirty)  the  second  night.  The  third  night  found 
them  down  on  the  Fountain,  near  Ooten's  ranch, 
where  they  joined  some  companies  that  had  already 
arrived,  and  waited  for  the  others  before  marching 
on  to  Fort  Lyons. 


JOHN  PATTERSON 


CHAPTER  IX. 

JOHN    PATTERSON. 

John  Patterson  was  bom  April  1st,  1841,  in  the 
northern  part  of  Ireland.  At  the  age  of  six  years  he 
came  to  Phoenixville,  Pennsylvania,  with  his  parents. 
They  remained  in  Pennsylvania  two  years,  then 
moved  to  Iowa.  After  a  short  stay  here,  they  crossed 
the  plains  and  settled  at  Plattsmouth,  Nebraska. 
John  Patterson  by  this  time  had  grown  into  young 
manhood  and  decided  to  follow  the  continual  move 
westward.  In  the  spring  of  i860  he  landed  in  Den- 
ver, which  at  that  time  was  the  frontier  country.  He 
immediately  engaged  in  the  freighting  business  and 
made  twenty  round  trips  across  the  plains  from  the 
Missouri  river  to  Denver.  In  1864  he  was  interested 
in  the  first  bakery  in  Denver,  and  during  the  same 
years  he  was  among  those  who  left  their  personal 
business  and  answered  the  call  to  fight  for  the  wel- 
fare of  all  the  people  in  general.  In  the  fall  of  1865 
he  went  down  the  Platte  river  and  bought  a  hay 
ranch  about  three  miles  below  where  Greeley  was 
located  in  1870. 


68  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

On  the  sixth  of  December  in  1866,  John  Patter- 
son was  married  and  seven  children  were  born  to 
them,  six  girls  and  one  boy.  All  are  married  except 
one. 

In  1899  he  moved  to  Hotchkiss,  Colorado,  where 
he  has  since  resided.  He  ran  a  livery  stable  for  two 
years,  then  he  entered  the  mercantile  business  which 
he  has  been  engaged  in  for  the  past  three  years. 


CHAPTER  X. 


By  John  Patterson. 

Company  "C"  of  the  3rd  Regiment  of  Colorado 
Volunteers  was  mustered  in  at  Denver,  under  Cap- 
tain Morgan  and  Lieutenants  Weld  and  Wyman. 
They  were  then  marched  down  the  Platte  river,  a 
mile  and  a  half  below  Denver,  where  they  camped 
about  two  weeks.  Their  next  move  was  down  the 
Platte  about  thirty-five  or  forty  miles  to  Lathrum. 

While  camped  here  they  had  some  Indian  ex- 
citements. Old  Friday,  a  chief  of  a  band  of  peaceful 
Indians,  whose  village  was  near  Fort  Collins,  was  a 
friend  of  the  white  people  and  always  warned  them 
and  kept  them  posted  on  the  moves  of  the  roving 
bands  of  warriors. 

At  this  time  Old  Friday  was  at  State's  Station, 
about  a  mile  from  the  soldiers'  camp.  Late  one 
evening  he  came  into  camp  and  told  the  officers  that 
he  thought  the  Indians  were  near,  for  when  he  was 
standing  on  the  river  bank,  the  Indians  took  a  shot 


70  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

at  him  and  he  jumped  in  the  brush  and  ran  to  the 
soldiers. 

The  officers  ordered  out  twenty  men  and  horses, 
also  a  horse  for  Old  Friday.  They  went  to  the  State 
Station  and  from  there  Old  Friday  led  them  to  where 
he  supposed  the  Indians  were. 

He  guided  them  down  the  Platte  six  or  seven 
miles  until  they  came  to  Geary's  ranch,  which  was 
on  the  north  side  of  the  river  near  the  mouth  of 
Crow  Creek.  When  Geary  was  asked  if  he  had  seen 
any  Indians  around  his  place  he  said,  "No,  I  haven't 
noticed  any  but  believe  there  are  some  around  here." 

The  soldiers  scoured  the  country,  but  did  not 
find  any  trace  of  the  raiding  foe,  so  returned  to  camp 
about  daylight. 

The  government  had  about  three  hundred  tons  of 
hay  near  the  present  site  of  Evans,  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  river  and  about  three  miles  from  the  sol- 
diers' camp.  A  few  nights  after  Old  Friday's  ex- 
citement, the  hay  was  set  afire.  The  soldiers  could 
see  it  burning  but  could  not  get  over  to  it  in  time  to 
save  it.  Next  morning  they  were  sent  out  to  look  for 
the  Indians  that  were  supposed  to  have  burned  the 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  7^ 


hay.     Being  unable  to  find  any  they  went  back  to 
Lathrum. 

Company  "C"  was  ordered  back  to  Denver  and 
made  camp  at  Fort  Weld,  a  mile  out  of  town,  for 
about  a  week,   awaiting  orders  to  start   for  Fort 

Lyons. 

When  the  orders  came  Company  "C"  broke 
camp  and  started  south  over  the  divide  near  a  place 
called  Kit  Carson.  It  was  an  old  camp  ground 
where  Kit  Carson  had  his  little  band  of  men.  The 
soldiers  came  down  off  the  divide  to  Monument 
Creek,  where  the  town  of  Monument  now  stands. 

This  being  late  in  the  fall  the  snow  was  so  deep 
that  the  cavalry  had  to  go  ahead  and  break  trail  for 
the  wagons  and  artillery  to  follow.  When  they 
made  camp  that  night  it  was  so  cold  that  a  Mexican 
roustabout  froze  to  death. 

From  Monument  Creek  they  marched  down  the 
Fountain  to  the  present  site  of  Pueblo.  The  regi- 
ment was  camped  at  the  foot  of  a  knoll  right  across 
the  Fountain  river  from  Ooten's.  Judge  Bradford 
later  had  a  ranch  on  the  old  camping  ground  of  the 
3rd  Regiment  of  Colorado  Volunteers. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

EST   PINOSA,  THE   MEXICAN    DKSPI-RADO. 

While  the  3rd  regiment  was  waiting  at  Pueblo 
for  orders  to  move  on  to  Fort  Lyons,  a  dispatch 
came  to  be  sent  to  Fort  Garland.  Captain  Cree  was 
looking  for  a  man  to  send,  when  Alston  Shaw  volun- 
teered to  go.  After  he  had  his  horse  saddled  and 
was  all  prepared  to  start.  Captain  Cree  came  up  to 
him,  shook  hands  and  said,  "Good  bye,  Shaw." 

Alston  asked,  "Why,  what's  wrong*?" 

"I  will  tell  you,  Al,  I  never  expect  to  see  you 
return." 

"What  makes  you  think  so?" 

"Old  Est  Pinosa  is  up  on  the  Sangre  de  Cristo 
range  and  you  know  what  he  is  doing." 

Al  Shaw  was  well  aware  of  Est  Pinosa  and  his 
crimes,  but  was  willing  to  take  his  chances  and  im- 
mediately after  breakfast  started  on  his  errand. 

A  short  time  before  this,  Est  Pinosa  was  away 
from  home  and  it  was  reported  that  during  his 
absence,  some  soldiers  insulted  his  wife  and  daughter. 
He  swore  revenge,  and  to  be  sure  to  get  the  right 


74  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

ones  "he  would  kill  every  white  man  crossing  the 
range."  But  he  never  robbed  anyone,  his  hatred  was 
so  strong  against  the  white  people  that  his  only  de- 
sire was  to  kill  them  off. 

So  numerous  were  his  crimes  that  Governor 
Evans  offered  a  reward  of  fifteen  hundred  dollars 
for  his  head,  dead  or  alive.  Tom  Tobin  was  trail- 
ing him,  intent  upon  getting  the  reward. 

The  first  night  out  from  Pueblo,  Alston  Shaw 
stopped  on  Sangre  de  Cristo  range  at  Sam  Laval's 
place,  which  was  used  as  a  government  station.  As 
he  rode  up  to  the  house,  a  Texan  who  was  sitting 
with  some  Mexicans  nearby,  said,  "Ultro  gringo 
paro"  (another  foreign  dog).  Shaw  ignored  the 
remark  and  went  on  talking  with  Laval. 

The  last  thing  Laval  told  him  when  he  was  start- 
ing out  again  was,  "Look  out  for  Est  Pinosa,  he  left 
here  just  before  you  came  last  night." 

After  winding  around  through  the  foothills  all 
the  forenoon,  he  reached  the  foot  of  the  main  divide 
about  noon  and  as  yet  saw  no  signs  of  the  Mexican. 
Just  as  he  was  beginning  to  think  the  way  was  clear, 
he  was  startled  by  two  shots  right  ahead  of  him.  Dis- 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  75 

mounting  from  his  horse  and  cautiously  creeping 
around  the  bend  in  the  road,  he  came  upon  nine 
Mexicans  and  naturally  thought  it  was  Est  Pinosa 
and  some  of  his  friends,  and  as  they  had  caught  sight 
of  him  he  never  expected  to  get  on  his  horse  again, 
but  he  made  up  his  mind  to  die  as  dear  as  possible, 
so  he  got  out  both  of  his  revolvers  and  prepared  to 
fight.  The  Mexicans  seeing  that  it  was  just  a  lone 
man,  showed  signs  of  friendliness  and  Al  Shaw  went 
into  their  camp  and  learned  that  they  were  with  a 
freight .  train  which  was  on  ahead  going  to  Fort 
Garland,  and  they  were  shooting  black  birds,  hence 
the  cause  of  their  shots.  Shaw  then  told  them  of 
Est  Pinosa,  thus  explaining  the  cause  of  his  pre- 
caution. By  this  time  they  fully  understood  each 
other  and  had  got  on  friendly  terms;  they  went  on 
to  Fort  Garland  together.  As  they  were  almost  on 
top  of  the  range  they  saw  smoke  raising  up  toward 
the  Spanish  Peaks.  They  supposed  it  was  either 
Indians  or  the  dreaded  Mexican  and  his  followers, 
nevertheless  they  kept  a  close  look  out  along  the 
road,  taking  no  chances,  as  some  of  the  desperadoes 


76  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

might  spring  out  from   under  ambush  and  attack 
them  at  any  time. 

In  the  meantime,  while  the  dispatch  carrier  was 
carefully  and  cautiously  making  his  way  over  the 
mountains,  ever  on  the  lookout  for  the  revengeful 
Mexican,  Tom  Tobin  and  a  friend  were  just  as  cau- 
tiously trailing  after  Est  Pinosa.  As  he  sneaked 
down  in  a  pasture,  stole  a  steer  and  run  it  back  in  the 
hills  at  the  foot  of  the  Spanish  Peaks,  Tom  Tobin 
was  closely  following,  watching  for  an  opportunity 
to  get  the  drop  on  the  Mexican  and  his  one  compan- 
ion. Finally  when  they  had  butchered  the  steer  and 
dug  a  hole  in  the  snow  and  a  little  in  the  ground  to 
build  a  fire  in  and  cook  the  meat,  Tobin  had  crept 
around  back  of  them  and  just  as  Est  Pinosa  turned 
his  back  in  the  direction  of  Tobin,  he  fell  shot 
through  the  back,  and  Tobin's  friend  soon  killed  the 
other  Mexican.  The  shot  did  not  kill  Est  Pinosa, 
so  Tobin  took  his  knife  and  started  to  cut  the  Mex- 
ican's head  off.  He  began  cutting  in  the  back  of  his 
neck  and  the  knife  was  dull  so  he  made  slow  prog- 
ress. The  dying  Mexican  said,  "Tom,  hurry  up, 
that  knife  is  dull." 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  77 


Alston  Shaw  rode  into  Fort  Garland,  while  a 
poker  game  was  going  on  in  Captain  Curley's  Dutch 
Company.  One  soldier  went  broke  and  was  going  to 
whip  the  one  who  won  his  money.  He  got  a  large 
pole  from  a  pile  of  dead  timber  and  was  just  raising 
it  to  strike  when  the  others  interfered.  He  turned 
onto  them  with  oaths  and  said,  ''Why  not  for  you 
leave  me  alone;  pretty  soon  me  get  deadwood  on 
him?"  He  was  in  a  fighting  humor  and  would  un- 
doubtedly have  caused  some  trouble  had  not  a  new 
excitement  started  in  camp.  Just  as  the  poker  trou- 
bles were  reaching  a  crisis,  Tom  Tobin  came  riding 
into  Fort  Garland  with  the  head  of  Est  Pinosa  stuck 
on  the  end  of  a  stick  and  holding  it  up  in  sight  of 
all,  thus  changing  affairs  in  the  fort.  He  got  some 
of  his  reward  then,  but  it  was  several  years  before 
he  got  it  all. 

After  safely  delivering  the  dispatch,  Shaw  started 
back  to  the  command  at  Pueblo,  and  stopped,  as  be- 
fore, at  Sam  Laval's  place.  Here  the  Texan  again 
made  remarks  about  the  "gringo  paro"  (the  Texan 
was  a  rebel  and  had  married  a  Mexican  girl,  and  not 
only  tell   in  with  their  customs,  but  took  up  their 


78  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

hatred  for  the  white  settlers,  whom  the)^  always 
called  foreigners). 

This  time  Shaw  did  not  ignore  his  remarks,  but 
strongly  resented  them,  and  said:  "You  have  said 
enough ;  now  if  you  have  any  blood  in  you,  come  out 
and  fight."  So  saying,  Shaw  got  his  revolver  ready 
■  )r  action  in  case  some  of  the  other  Mexicans  should 
resort  to  treachery.  The  Texan  backed  off  and  began 
to  apologize.  The  bluff  had  good  effect,  during  the 
remainder  of  Shaw's  stay;  they  were  all  very  careful 
of  what  they  said. 

Much  to  the  surprise  of  Captain  Cree,  Alston 
Shaw  rode  back  into  camp  at  Pueblo  on  the  night  of 
the  fourth  day  out,  and  was  kept  busy  for  awhile 
giving  the  particulars  of  Tobin's  trailing  of  Est 
Pinosa  and  the  end  of  the  Mexican  desperado. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

SAND  CREEK  FIGHT. 

As  'Told  by  Patterson  and  Shaw. 

On  the  morning  of  the  sixteenth  da}'  ot  Decem- 
ber, 1864,  the  Third  regiment  of  Colorado  Volun- 
teers moved  from  Pueblo  down  the  Arkansas  to 
Bent's  Fort.  Here  they  made  camp  the  first  night. 
Before  leaving  the  next  morning  they  took  Bent's 
family  prisoners,  placed  a  guard  over  them,  and  took 
Bob  Bent  with  them  for  a  guide.  He  led  the  sol- 
diers down  to  Boone's  ranch  the  second  day,  and  the 
afternoon  of  the  third  day  they  came  in  sight  of  Fort 
Lyons.  This  was  the  first  that  Major  Anthony  and 
his  soldiers  knew  there  was  such  a  regiment  in  exist- 
ence. When  he  saw  the  Volunteers  coming  he  sent 
Captain  Sully  with  an  escort  out  to  meet  them.  Cap- 
tain Sully  demanded  who  they  were  and  why  they 
were  coming  to  Fort  L}'ons.  Colonel  Shoop,  com- 
manding officer  of  the  Third  regiment  of  Colorado 
Volunteers,  said:  "We  are  the  Third  regiment  of 
Colorado  Voluteers,"  and  ordered  Captain  Sully  to 


8o  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


surrender.     He   then  went  into   the  fort  and  took 
Major  Anthony  and  his  soldiers  prisoners. 

The  regiment  entered  the  fort,  fed  their  horses, 
and  after  the  soldiers  had  their  supper,  they  took  the 
prisoners  and  marched  toward  the  Indian  village. 

After  following  their  guide  from  six  in  the  even- 
ing, about  daybreak  they  came  in  sight  of  the  vil- 
lage. Bob  Bent,  the  guide,  pointed  down  over  the 
ridge  and  said,  "There  they  are;"  then  he  turned 
away  and  began  crying,  for  he  knew  that  his  mother, 
who  was  a  squaw,  was  in  the  Indian  village,  and  he 
was  afraid  that  she  would  share  the  same  fate  as  the 
other  Indians.  The  officers  dismissed  Bob  and  let 
him  go  back  to  his  home. 

About  a  hundred  yards  over  the  ridge,  on  the 
north  side  of  the  creek  from  the  soldiers,  was  the  In- 
dian village,  composed  of  about  one  hundred  and 
thirty-three  lodges. 

The  regiment  halted  under  the  ridge  and  sent  one 
company  around  from  the  right  to  circle  in  back  of 
the  Indians,  while  a  company  circled  around  from 
the  left.  These  two  came  together  north  of  the  vil- 
lage and  closed  in  on  their  horses,  and  run  them 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  8l 


down  on  the  south  side  of  the  creek  in  back  of  the 
soldiers.  Then  the  command  moved  across  the  creek 
with  the  artillery  in  advance,  which  moved  a  little 
further  and  on  higher  ground  than  the  cavalry.  They 
all  faced  the  Indians,  who  were  lined  up  in  front  of 
their  lodges,  and  ordered  to  dismount. 

Colonel  Chivington  rode  down  the  line  of  his 
soldiers,  giving  them  words  of  encouragement  and 
cheer.  He  said  to  them,  ''Boys,  I  won't  tell  you  who 
to  kill  or  who  not  to,  but  remember  the  women  and 
children  on  the  Platte."  After  Chivington  passed 
on  down  the  line.  Colonel  Shoop  came  by  with  more 
encouraging  words,  beginning  with,  "Boys,  you  have 
been  anticipating  that  }Ou  would  have  no  opportu- 
nity to  fight,  but  your  chances  look  good."  Just 
then  a  shot  came  from  the  ridge  above,  and  the  ball 
shot  out  over  the  Indians,  who  laughed  and  danced 
at  the  soldier's  blunder,  but  the  artillery  ranged  the 
guns  and  the  second  shot  took  effect.  The  Indians 
began  to  scatter;  chiefs,  squaws  and  children  ran  in 
every  direction,  principally  for  the  sand  pits  they 
had  dug  in  the  sanci  at  the  bend  of  the  creek,  about 
a  halt  mile  from  their  lod;res.     The  left  winii  of  the 


82  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

command  broke  to  follow  them.  As  the  colonel 
turned  to  check  them,  the  soldiers  on  the  right 
started.  The  officers  lost  control  over  them,  for  the 
volunteers,  at  sight  of  the  Indians,  remembered  the 
crimes  committed  by  their  hands  and  were  deter- 
mined to  wreak  vengeance. 

Some  of  the  Indians  made  for  the  sand  pits,  oth- 
ers to  the  bluffs,  while  some  hid  in  the  tall  sand 
grass  and  sage  brush.  There  were  Indians  scattered 
over  hundreds  of  acres  of  ground,  but  the  majority- 
were  down  in  the  sand  pits  and  there  was  the  princi- 
pal scene  of  the  fight.  Some  fought  from  ambush, 
some  stood  in  the  open  and  exchanged  shot  for  shot ; 
some  struggled  in  hand-to-hand  fights,  using  knives 
for  weapons;  squaws  would  take  their  bow  and  ar- 
rows and  at  every  opportunity  would  down  a  sol- 
dier. No  discipline  was  used;  the  soldiers  had  to 
fight  in  the  savage  fashion. 

The  battle  continued  all  day  and  by  evening  the 
soldiers  had  completely  routed  the  Indians.  What 
few  escaped  started  for  Little  Raven's  band  on  Ket- 
t'e  creek. 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  83 


The  volunteers  being  hungry  and  tired  after 
marching  all  night  and  fighting  all  day  without  any 
food  or  rest,  did  not  count  the  dead  Indians  or  look 
tor  wounded  ones,  but  searched  their  lodges  for  some- 
thing to  eat.  All  they  found  was  a  little  dried  buf- 
falo meat,  and  that  was  all  they  had  for  supj)er. 
Some  of  the  soldiers  went  to  the  creek  for  water; 
what  little  they  found  trickling  through  the  sand  was 
red  with  the  blood  of  the  Indians.  They  dug  some 
holes  in  the  sand  a  short  distance  below  the  Indians 
and  the  water  oozing  through  the  sand  became  fil- 
tered before  reaching  the  holes.  The  following  morn- 
ing the  soldiers  had  clear  water. 

In  making  camp  for  the  night,  the  officers  placed 
the  soldiers  in  a  hollow  square;  that  is,  they  were  so 
placed  as  to  form  a  square,  with  the  soldiers  facing 
outwardly  in  the  four  directions,  so  the  Indians  could 
not  come  and  surprise  them  from  any  direction. 

This  precaution  was  taken,  for  a  scout  came  into 
camp  and  said  Little  Raven's  band  was  near  by  and 
an  attack  was  expected  before  daylight.  The  trans- 
portation wagons  had  not  arrived,  so  the  soldiers  had 
no  rations  but  the  buffalo  meat,  and  no  beds.    They 


§4  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

had  to  rest  the  best  they  could  out  on  the  open  prairie 
and  endure  the  cold  of  a  mid-winter's  night.  It  is 
a  wonder  that  any  of  them  were  able  to  sleep,  on  ac- 
count of  the  horrible  nerve-racking  noise  that  lasted 
throughout  the  night.  The  whole  country  seemed 
to  be  wreathed  in  agony;  over  the  ridge  came  the 
mournful  and  lonely  howling  of  the  many  homeless 
Indian  dogs;  further  in  the  distance  could  be  heard 
the  fierce  yelping  and  barking  of  the  coyotes,  which 
had  become  rabid  over  the  warm  odor  of  the  fresh 
blood.  The  yelping  had  the  heinous  sound  of  a 
fiend's  chuckle  when  he  is  tormenting  a  victim.  The 
soldiers  could  almost  imagine  they  saw  the  glowing 
and  fiery  eyes  and  the  foaming  and  lagging  tongues 
of  the  beasts  as  they  stealthily  crept  down  on  the 
mournful,  homeless  little  dogs,  before  nearing  the 
lifeless  forms  of  the  Indians,  lying  in  the  bed  of  the 
creek.  Nearer  at  hand  could  be  heard  the  whinny- 
ing and  neighing  of  the  frightened  and  restless  horses, 
while  from  the  tents  the  groans  of  the  wounded 
floated  out  to  the  soldiers. 

What   harsh   discord   these   sounds   made — lov/, 
pitiful  murmurs  and  heart-rending  and  woeful  howls 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  8^ 


that  tilled  one  with  coiripassion,  mingled  with  the 
fierce  yelping  that  would  turn  compassion  into 
fear.  All  of  this  on  top  of  the  blood)-  scenes  wit- 
nessed during  the  day,  and  realizing,  perhaps,  they 
would  face  even  worse  things  on  the  morrow,  was 
enough  to  make  the  strongest  shudder. 

The  transportation  wagons  arrived  during  the 
night;  so  early  in  the  morning  the  soldiers  enjoyed  a 
hearty  breakfast.  Then  they  were  divided  into  sev- 
eral squads  and  sent  out  to  count  the  dead  Indian>. 
and  if  they  should  chance  onto  wounded  ones,  to  {)ut 
them  out  of  their  miser}-.  In  searching  the  Indian 
lodges,  they  found  two  hundred  and  sixty-three 
scalps,  from  little  infants  up  to  snowy  white 
ones,  from  men,  women  and  children  of  all  ages. 
The  bloodthirsty  savages  were  no  respecters  of  peo- 
ple to  practice  their  cruel  tortures  on.  The  volun- 
teers found  clothing  taken  from  emigrants,  tools, 
guns,  trinkets  and  numerous  other  things  that  the 
Indians  had  picked  up  in  their  raids. 

The  seven  hundred  horses  captured  from  the  In- 
dians were  sent  to  Fort  L}-ons  in  charge  of  Lieuten- 
ant Maire  Anna  and  his  company  of  forty  Mexicans. 


86  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


The  soldiers  counted  between  six  hundred  and 
seven  hundred  dead  Indians,  while  the  volunteers 
had  about  thirty  wounded  and  eleven  killed,  accord- 
ing to  the  estimate  of  some,  but  this  is  disputed  by 
others,  so  the  exact  number  is  not  known,  but  the 
volunteers'  loss  was  very  small  in  comparison  to  that 
of  the  Indians. 

Two  of  the  wounded  were  Colonel  Talbot  and 
Pud  Wilson;  both  were  shot  at  the  same  time  and 
each  was  shot  through  the  abdomen.  They  recov- 
ered and  were  back  to  their  work  in  an  incredibly 
short  time. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  a  scout  brought  word  into 
camp  that  Little  Raven's  band  had  gone  down  on  the 
Arkansas,  so  the  cavalry  and  artillery  were  ordered 
to  follow  up  his  band,  while  the  transportation  wag- 
ons went  by  Fort  Lyons  for  more  supplies. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

A    FEW    INCIDF.NTS   DURING  TIIK    FIGHT. 

A  short  distance  from  the  creek  was  a  little  gul- 
ley,  and  as  Captain  Cree  was  riding  past  it,  he  heard 
sounds  of  a  struggle  somewhere  in  the  gully.  Turn- 
ing in  the  direction  of  the  sounds  he  saw  the  Indian 
chief,  Black  Kettle,  and  McFarland,  in  a  hand-to- 
hand  fight  with  knives. 

It  was  a  critical  time;  each  had  his  knife  raised 
ready  to  strike;  it  was  a  question  which  would  tall, 
just  owing  to  which  knife  could  be  plunged  the 
quickest.  Captain  Cree  took  in  the  situation  at  a 
glance,  and  whirling  his  horse,  darted  toward  the 
contestants.  Drawing  his  sword,  he  ran  it  into  Black 
Kettle's  side,  but  was  just  a  fraction  of  a  second  too 
late;  the  Indian's  knife  had  done  its  deadly  work. 
McFarland  and  Black  Kettle  both  fell  at  the  same 
rime  mortally  wounded. 

Hughmel  Rose  had  picked  up  a  little  papoose 
that  he  intended  to  keep  and  raise,  but  when  he  saw 
the  fight  in  the  gully,  he  dropped  the  baby  and  ran 


TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


to  McFarland's  assistance;  arriving  too  late,  he 
turned  back  to  the  scene  of  the  main  fight.  When 
he  went  to  look  for  the  papoose  he  found  it  dead; 
some  of  the  flying  bullets  had  hit  it. 

Two  soldiers,  who  had  been  taken  prisoners  with 
Major  Anthony's  regiment  at  Fort  Lyons,  refused 
to  fight  the  Indians.  Once  when  they  were  just  rid- 
ing along,  they  passed  an  old  squaw,  one  of  the  sol- 
diers said,  "No  use  to  kill  her;  she  is  too  old  to  do 
any  more  damage."  He  had  no  more  than  said  it 
until  he  had  cause  to  change  his  mind.  As  soon  as 
the  soldiers  passed  her  the  squaw  drew  a  bow  and 
arrow  from  under  her  buffalo  robe  and  sent  an  arrow 
into  his  thigh.  He  asked  his  companion  to  pull  it 
out,  then  jumping  from  his  horse  and  picking  up  a 
tent  pole,  he  went  after  the  squaw.  At  first  he  was 
going  to  shoot  her,  but  decided  that  shooting  was  too 
good. 

The  squaw  did  not  run  from  him;  on  the  con- 
trary she  took  her  old  rusty  knife  and  started  out  to 
meet  him.  She  was  trembling  with  rage,  her  little 
bead-like  eyes  were  flashing  with  anger  and  she  came 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  SQ 


toward  him  dancing  and  flourishing  her  knife,  at  the 
same  time  chattering  off  some  of  her  lingo. 

The  soldier  waited  until  she  got  quite  near,  when 
he  drew  the  pole  back  and  struck  her  full  force  on 
the  side  of  the  head,  killing  her  instantly. 

A  young  Indian  chief  came  out  in  the  open  and 
exchanged  shot  for  shot  with  Joe  Connors.    After  a 
few  shots,  one  of  Joe's  took  effect  and  the  Indian 
fell.     Joe  still  remained  in  the  open,  fully  exposed 
to  the  arrows,  without  heeding  the  warnings  of  his 
comrades.    Some  of  the  soldiers  in  the  grass  back  of 
Connors  saw  a  squaw   raise  up  out  of  the  weeds 
where  the  young  chief  had  fallen,  and  making  a  tar- 
get out  of  Joe.    They  raised  their  rifles,  but  before 
they  could  shoot,  the  squaw's  arrow  had  done  its 
work,  and  Connors  fell,  pierced  through  the  lungs. 
Just  as  he  went  down,  several  reports  rang  through 
the  air,  and  the  squaw  fell  in  the  grass  back  of  where 
Connors  had  stood,  a  victim  of  one  of  the  rifles. 

The  killing  of  the  squaws  and  children  may  seem 
inhuman  to  those  not  accustomed  to  the  life  on  the 
frontier,  or  not  familiar  with  the  dangers  and  suf- 
ferings of  the  pioneers  on  account  of  the  savages. 


9©  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

When  a  squaw  comes  out  and  takes  her  place  among 
the  warriors  and  shoots  down  the  soldiers,  should  she 
not  take  the  same  consequences^  The  squaws  urged 
on  the  massacres  and  helped  to  destroy  the  homes  of 
the  settlers.  As  for  the  papooses,  the  soldiers  re- 
membered the  white  children  scalped  and  their  brains 
dashed  out  and  otherwise  brutally  massacred 
throughout  the  country,  and  also  Colonel  Harley's 
quotation,  "Remember  that  mites  make  lice."  If 
the  squaws  and  papooses  were  spared  it  would  only 
be  a  few  years  until  they  would  have  an  uprising  and 
there  would  be  more  serious  Indian  raids  and  trou- 
bles. The  squaws  of  John  Smith  and  Bent  were  not 
harmed,  as  they  were  wives  of  white  men  and  natu- 
rally joined  in  with  the  white  people. 

Colonels  Talbot  and  Chivington  were  standing 
near  together  when  suddenly  Talbot  fell,  and  Chiv- 
ington noticed  bullets  and  arrows  falling  around  him. 
Upon  watching  to  see  where  they  were  coming  from, 
he  noticed  an  Indian  head  rise  up  over  a  soap  weed. 
He  shot  without  success.  Finally  Jim  Beckwith,  the 
noted  guide  and  scout,  came  along  and  said,  "Let  me 
try  that  gun.  Colonel."    Chivington  handed  him  the 


THE   PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  Ql 


gun  and  just  as  the  Indian  cautiously  and  slowly 
raised  his  head  above  the  weed,  Beckwirh  fired  and 
struck  him  right  between  the  eyes. 

An  Indian  medicine  man  had  dug  a  hole  in  a 
sand-bar  and  placed  bags  of  medicine  around  it.  He 
would  raise  up  and  shoot  an  arrow  at  the  soldiers; 
before  they  could  return  the  shots,  he  had  sunk  down 
in  the  hole  and  the  bullets  would  fly  over  him. 

Lieutenant  Wyman  was  sitting  on  his  horse, 
right  in  direct  range  of  the  medicine  man,  uncon- 
scious of  the  poisoned  arrow  being  aimed  at  him. 
John  Patterson  saw  the  lieutenant's  danger  and 
called  out,  "Look  out  there,  Lieutenant."  Wyman 
whirled  his  horse  just  in  time.  The  arrow  went  hiss- 
ing through  the  air  and  lodged  in  the  lieutenant's 
horse.  W}'man  was  saved,  but  the  horse  had  to  be 
killed;  it  was  gradually  becoming  paralyzed  from 
the  effect  of  the  poison  on  the  steel  point  of  the  ar- 
row that  had  broken  off  in  the  bone  of  his  leg,  where 
it  had  lodged.  The  following  day,  as  they  were 
searching  among  the  dead,  they  found  the  medicine 
man  huddled  up  in  the  hole. 


92  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

Several  shots  aimed  at  him  had  taken  effect,  but 
he  plugged  the  holes  up  to  keep  them  from  bleeding 
and  would  go  on  fighting.  The  last  shot  had  killed 
him  before  he  could  get  the  tallow  in. 

When  the  fight  was  raging  the  hardest,  Jim 
Beckwith  started  across  the  flat  and  suddenly  came 
face  to  face  with  Bent.  Forgetting  the  soldiers  and 
Indians  around  them,  or  the  danger  they  were  in, 
they  only  remembered  that  they  were  old  and  dear 
friends  and  had  never  expected  to  meet  again ;  so  in 
Indian  fashion  they  ran  right  into  each  other's  arms 
and  wept,  being  so  overcome  with  joy  at  the  unex- 
pected meeting. 

Just  as  the  last  sounds  of  the  battle  were  dying 
av/ay,  one  of  the  soldiers  saw  a  chief  stretched  out 
in  the  grass,  face  downward.  The  soldier  was  anx- 
ious to  get  a  scalp  of  a  chief,  so  sat  down  on  him 
and  began  to  take  his  scalp.  He  was  just  making 
good  progress  when  the  Indian  turned  over  and  a 
hard  struggle  ensued,  lasting  for  several  minutes,  re- 
sulting in  the  soldier  going  into  camp  with  the  much- 
coveted  scalp. 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO      ^)], 


A  squad  of  soldiers  had  charge  of  the  ambulance 
and  went  around  gathering  up  the  dead  and  wounded 
soldiers.    They  kept  missing  Joe  Connors  and  Frank 
Parks,  two  wounded  soldiers.     They  were  both  old 
friends  and  comrades  of  Alston  Shaw,  so  when  he 
saw  them  fall  he  had  hurried  to  their  assistance  and 
arranged  them  as  comfortably  as  he  could.    Long  to- 
ward evening  the  soldiers  were  ordered  into  camp. 
Shaw  refused  to  leave  Connors  and  Parks  until  the 
ambulance  was  ready  to  take  his  companions.     At 
last  he  saw  an  ambulance  going  up  into  the  gully 
after  McFarland's  body,  so  calling  Cobbs  over  to 
guard  the  two  wounded  soldiers,  he  went  after  the 
ambulance.     Cobbs  put  his  horse  between  them  and 
where  any  stray  Indians  might  be  hiding  and  he 
watched   the    other    way.     When    Shaw    returned. 
Cobbs  said,   "I  believe   those   Indians  took  advan- 
tage of  me  while  you  were  gone,   and  fired  those 
shots."     Just  as  much  as  to  say  that  if  Shaw  had 
been  there,  the  Indians  would  have  been  afraid  to 
shoot.     Shaw  and  Cobbs  took  Joe  and  Frank  into 
the  camp.    While  passing  the  bend  in  the  creek,  they 
saw  four  Indians  run  up  the  opposite  bank,  dance 


Q4  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

the  war  dance,  and  then  hurr)^  in  the  direction  of 
Little  Raven's  band. 

That  night,  in  camp,  Joe  Connors  heard  the  oth- 
ers talking  of  a  probable  attack  from  Little  Raven's 
band.  He  called  vShaw  o\e'-  nnd  made  him  promise 
not  to  let  him  fall  into  the  Indians'  hands;  that  if 
the  Indians  attacked  them,  for  Shaw  to  shoot  him 
before  the  Indians  had  a  chance  to  get  him.  Hard 
as  it  was  to  do,  Shaw  made  the  promise;  but  that 
night,  between  nine  and  ten,  the  Angel  of  Death  re- 
lieved him  of  his  promise,  and  the  soul  of  Joe  Con- 
nors was  taken  beyond  the  reach  of  fear  or  dread  of 
any  more  tortures  at  the  hands  of  the  savages. 

Jack  Smith,  the  half-breed  leader  of  the  raiding 
and  murderous  Indians,  was  taken  prisoner  and 
placed  in  a  tent  made  of  elk  hide.  The  lieutenant 
in  charge  made  a  candle  stick  of  a  pocket  knife  and 
fastened  a  candle  on  the  tent  pole,  so  the  soldiers 
on  guard  could  always  see  the  prisoner.  Scarcely  a 
man  among  the  volunteers  but  wanted  a  chance  to 
take  a  shot  at  the  leader  of  the  enemy,  for  they  had 
always  remembered  the  horrible  deeds  that  had  been 
done  by  his  hands  or  order. 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  95 

Some  of  the  soldiers  had  cut  a  strip  of  the  hide 
out  of  the  tent  to  make  a  pair  of  leggings;  this 
left  an  opening  in  the  side  of  the  tent.  Alston  Shaw 
crept  up  to  the  tent,  decoyed  the  guards  away 
and  was  watching  Smith  through  the  opening  in  the 
tent  and  was  just  waiting  for  a  good  chance  to  shoot 
him,  when  suddenly  he  was  surprised  by,  "What  are 
you  doing  here,  Shaw*?"  , 

"O,  just  wandering  around  because  I  couldn't 
sleep." 

"Now,  see  here,  I  know  why  you  are  just  wan- 
dering around;  it  is  for  a  chance  to  kill  Smith,  and  I 
wanted  that  job  myself." 

"Well,  if  you  are  sure  you  will  do  the  job  up 
fight,  I  will  leave  it  to  you." 

Shaw  walked  away  and  left  the  stranger,  who 
was  a  soldier  of  another  company,  to  attend  to  the 
Indians.  Before  going  very  far  Shaw  heard  a  shot 
and  knew  that  the  First  regiment  boy  had  done  his 
job  as  he  promised.  Jack  Smith  just  gave  one  jump 
and  a  war  whoop  and  then  fell  dead,  shot  through 
the  heart. 


q6  true  history  of  some  of 


Colonel  George  Shoop  was  sitting  on  some  buf- 
falo robes  quite  a  distance  from  the  tent  when  he 
heard  the  shot.  Jumping  vip  and  hurrying  towards 
the  prisoner,  he  met  Shaw  on  the  way  and  asked  him 
what  that  shot  was.  "I  guess  some  of  the  boys' 
guns  have  gone  off  accidentally."  Just  then  the 
guard  came  running  up  and  said,  "Some  one  has 
killed  Jack  Smith." 

No  one  ever  found  out  who  did  the  job.  Shaw 
did  not  recognize  the  boy  who  was  talking  to  him  by 
Smith's  tent;  he  just  noticed  that  he  belonged  to  the 
First  company. 

When  old  John  Smith,  his  father,  was  told  of  it, 
he  just  said,  "Well,  it  serves  him  right.  I  sent  him 
East  and  had  him  educated.  Instead  of  him  coming 
back  and  trying  to  help  civilize  the  Indians,  he  led 
them  into  deeper  and  lower  raids  of  barbarisms.  So 
he  could  expect  nothing  else." 

While  gathering  up  the  dead.  Wise  Osborn 
came  upon  a  wounded  Indian,  who  had  his  back 
broke.  He  raised  up  the  best  he  could  and  took  a 
shot  at  Osborn.  Wise  said,  "I  will  show  you  fel- 
lows how  to  kill  an  Indian."     He  sat  down  on  the 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  97 

Indian  and  took  him  by  the  head  to  hold  his  head 
still;  then  raised  the  knite  to  cut  his  throat,  but  the 
Indian  knocked  his  arm  and  the  knife  plunged  into 
the  ground  beside  the  Indian's  head.  Wise  drew  it 
out  and  said,  "Now  lay  still,  until  I  cut  your  throat." 
It  looks  brutal  in  a  way,  but  in  another  sense  of  the 
word  it  was  a  merciful  act.  The  Indian  was  suffer- 
ing excruciating  pain  and  there  was  no  other  help  for 
him;  his  people  were  all  gone  and  it  was  only  a  ques- 
tion of  time  until  he  would  die  of  his  injury.  O.-- 
born  thought,  ''Why  not  put  him  out  of  his  misery?" 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

CAUSE  OF  THE  SAND  CREEK  FIGHT. 

In  the  year  1861,  the  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes 
made  a  treaty  with  the  settlers  at  Bent's  Fort. 

Tempting  the  Indians  with  vain  promises,  mys- 
tifying them  with  presents  and  deluding  them  into 
believing  they  would  be  benefited,  if  under  the  rule 
of  the  government,  which,  undoubtedly,  they  would, 
had  they  submitted  to  the  authority  and  abided  by 
the  laws— in  this  way  the  people  at  Bent's  Fort  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  them  to  sign  away  their  land  east 
of  the  mountains. 

The  Indians  had  no  more  than  signed  away  their 
heritage,  than  they  regretted  it,  and  began  negotia- 
tions with  the  other  tribes  and  bands  to  form  a  plot 
to  expel  the  white  settlers  from  the  country.  This 
conspiracy  just  suited  the  other  tribes,  as  they  were 
all  bloodthirsty  and  wanted  a  chance  to  go  on  the 
warpath.  They  began  to  prepare  for  an  uprising 
that  would  last  indefinitely,  until  the  white  man  or 
the  Indian  perished. 


lOO  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

The  bucks  and  squaws  as  well,  began  to  gather 
all  the  necessities  of  warfare.  They  would  sneak 
around  and  rob  the  settlers  of  small  articles;  some- 
times they  would  hold  up  the  stage  coaches,  kill  the 
passengers  and  take  their  belongings;  other  times 
they  would  massacre  families  and  steal  their  sup- 
plies, firearms  and  ammunition,  until  at  last  they  had 
abundant  supplies  and  large  collections  of  weapons. 
In  other  words,  they  were  pre])ared  for  a  prolonged 
contest,  and  waiting  for  the  most  opportune  time  to 
strike  the  blow. 

In  1862  Governor  Evans  began  to  grow  suspi- 
cious, as  he  noticed  what  the  Indians  were  stealing 
mostly,  and  anticipated  trouble  with  them.  So  in 
his  message  to  the  legislature,  he  put  these  conditions 
before  them : 

"That  they  were  surrounded  by  a  large  band  of 
Indians,  though  seemingly  friendly,  who  might  re- 
volt at  any  time. 

"That  in  case  they  did,  the  settlers  were  in  no- 
wise able  to  defend  themselves. 

"That  they  could  not  expect  aid  from  the  gen- 
eral government,  as  it  had  sent  all  of  its  troops  to 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  lOl 

take  part  in  the  rebellion,  wliile  the  regiments  raised 
in  Colorado  had  been  sent  into  New  Mexico  to  head 
off  the  Texans  from  invading  through  New  Mexico 
up  into  Colorado.  Therefore,  if  their  antic'i{)ations 
were  realized,  the  only  resource  was  to  raise  a  regi- 
ment of  volunteers  right  here  at  home." 

Three  months  later  Acting  Governor  Elbert  re- 
ceived reports  of  Indian  raids  along  the  mail  route; 
horses,  provisions  and  arms  were  stolen. 

In  March,  1863,  there  were  extensive  depreda- 
tions throughout  the  country,  especially  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Cache  la  Poudre  (cache  the  powder 
in,  so  named  by  some  early  French  trappers,  who, 
upon  leaving  the  country,  buried  their  powder  in  the 
stream).  No  lives  were  taken,  but  vast  amounts  of 
provisions,  arms,  etc.,  disappeared. 

It  can  be  plainly  seen  that  during  the  last  two 
years,  the  Indian  conspirators  were  carrying  out  the 
obligations  of  their  plot.  The  people  were  begin- 
ning to  realize  that  trouble  was  near  at  hand. 

On  one  occasion  a  report  went  into  Denver  that 
the  Indians  were  advancing  and  v\'ould  burn  the 
town.     This  threw   the  people   into  a  panic;   they 


102  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

dropped  their  work  and  ran  in  every  direction,  leav- 
ing their  homes  to  find  protection  in  the  stronger 
built  buildings.  Some  were  too  frightened  to  run, 
but  hid  under  boxes  in  the  street.  Two  soldiers  who 
were  not  affected  by  the  report,  were  walking  along 
and  talking  about  their  rifles.  One  of  them  said, 
"Let's  see  how  yours  works;  shoot  at  that  box."  But 
the  box  suddenly  rose  up  and  a  voice  said,  "Don't 
shoot,  I  am  under  here."  Looking  more  closely  they 
saw  Billy  Keath  peeping  out  from  underneath.  It 
was  a  false  alarm,  caused  by  some  Mexican  cattle 
herders,  who  were  singing  while  herding  on  night 
watch.  Shotridge,  a  tollgate  keeper,  who  heard  them, 
just  supposed  that  they  were  Lidians  and  hurried 
into  Denver  with  the  false  alarm. 

Owing  to  the  extreme  danger  hovering  over  them. 
Governor  Evans  gave  orders  for  all  able-bodied  men 
to  leave  their  work  every  evening  at  six  o'clock  and 
drill.  Henry  Teller  was  put  in  charge  of  these  men 
to  organize  and  put  them  in  order  for  service.  Con- 
templating an  attack  at  Fort  Lupton,  Captain 
Browne,  with  a  company  he  had  raised,  was  sent 
thf^re  to  protect  that  post. 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  IO3 

To  encourage  the  men  to  volunteer  their  ser- 
vices, Governor  Evans  issued  a  proclamation,  allow- 
ing them  to  keep  what  trophies  they  captured  from 
the  Indians,  but  since  there  were  some  peaceful  In- 
dians, they  had  strict  orders  to  molest  none  except 
the  hostile. 

The  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes  were  still  play- 
ing friendly  with  the  officers  and  soldiers  at  Fort 
Lyons.  This  was  only  a  blind,  as  they  intended  to 
deceive  the  settlers  until  they  could  obtain  more  sup- 
plies and  ammunition  and  give  their  ponies  a  chance 
to  fatten  and  get  into  better  condition.  Therefore, 
they  would  go  into  the  fort  and  beg  from  the  officers 
and  trade  with  the  soldiers,  and  impress  upon  their 
minds  the  friendly  feeling  that  existed  between  the 
Indians  and  the  settlers,  but  on  the  other  hand  they 
were  aiding  the  other  bands  in  preparing  for  a  gen- 
eral massacre  of  the  settlers. 

Governor  Evans  saw  the  need  of  more  troops 
and  began  to  appeal  to  the  government  for  aid.  Ed- 
win Stanton,  secretary  of  war,  sent  back  the  follow- 
ing answer:     "Fight   it  out  among  yourselves;  we 


104  TRUE   HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


are  too  busy  with  more  weighty  affairs  to  give  you 
any  attention  or  assistance." 

Evans  then  sent  letters,  asking  for  help,  to  all 
the  superior  officers  in  the  military  line.  Receiving 
no  aid  from  any  direction,  he  was  forced  to  fall  back 
on  his  own  resources.  Chivington  was  doing  all  in 
his  power,  but  his  forces  were  too  weak  and  he  was 
unable  to  protect  the  outlying  settlements,  while 
Major  Downing  was  just  holding  his  own  at  Cedar 
Canon. 

Evans  at  last  appealed  for  troo}:)s  that  could  be 
spared  out  of  New  Mexico,  but  none  could  be  sent 
to  his  aid;  so,  pushed  to  desperation,  he  asked  the 
secretary  of  war  for  permission  to  raise  a  hundred- 
day  regiment  of  volunteers,  which  was  finally  grant- 
ed him. 

In  September,  1864,  a  few  Cheyenne  Indians 
were  taken  before  Major  Wynkoop,  commander  of 
Fort  Lyons.  They  carried  a  letter  asking  for  peace, 
providing  that  peace  be  made  to  the  Kiowas,  Coman- 
ches,  Arapahoes,  Apaches,  Sioux  and  the  Cheyennes. 
After  considering  the  matter  and  comparing  it  with 
the  acts  of  the  Indians,  the  officers  concluded  that 


THE   PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  IO5 

they  were  negotiating  for  peace,  without  the  inten- 
tion of  making  it.  The)  were  just  using  this  plan 
as  a  sham  to  either  kill  time  or  throw  the  white  peo- 
ple off  their  guard,  while  the  Indians  proceeded  with 
their  preparations. 


f',  ..v-^'-  ■    'if^ 


COL.  J.  M.  CHIVINGTON 


CHAPTER  X\\ 

JUSTICE    OF    THE    FIGHT. 

This  fight  and  also  the  stand  taken  by  Colonel 
Chivington,  who  was  commander-in-chief  ot  the 
western  department,  has  been  condemned  by  a  great 
many  {)eo[)le.  In  the  opinions  of  some  it  was  but  a 
massacre  ot  the  Indians.  A  crimson  blot  was  put  on 
the  record  of  Chivington  by  those  influenced  by  tales 
of  irresponsible  people  who  wanted  to  down  him  for 
some  political  reason,  as  they  were  all  striving  to 
attain  recognition  by  the  political  parties  raising  up 
to  control  the  state,  that  they  could  see  looming  into 
prominence  in  the  near  future.  As  the  other  officers 
saw  his  steady  rise  in  the  army  and  in  the  hearts  of 
the  people,  the  jealous  hearted  rivals  who  were  aspir- 
ing to  the  same  heights,  strove  to  disgrace  him  in 
the  eyes  of  the  people  by  branding  him  with  the  igno- 
minious fight  on  Sand  Creek. 

We  will  admit  that  the  fight  was  horrible  in 
every  wa}',  not  alone  on  the  part  of  the  soldiers  but 
the  Indians  as  well.  Though  the  savages  lost  the  fight, 


108  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

it  was  not  their  fault.  They  would  have  butchered 
the  soldiers  even  worse  than  they  were  slaughtered 
had  not  fate  been  against  them. 

As  before  said,  it  is  our  object  to  show  how  this 
battle  was  unavoidable.  Allow  us  to  trace  some  of 
the  crimes  of  the  savages  and  see  if  we  would  not 
have  done  the  same.  The  following  are  only  a  few 
of  the  many  depredations  committed  by  the  Indians. 

In  a  previous  chapter  the  massacre  of  the  Hun- 
gate  family  has  been  described.  What  could  have 
been  more  atrocious  in  every  sense  of  the  word'? 

Just  across  the  line  into  Kansas,  Mrs.  Ewbanks, 
daughter,  nephew  and  a  Miss  Roper  were  taken  pris- 
oners by  the  Indians,  who  ordered  Mrs.  Ewbanks  to 
leave  her  baby  behind.  She  refused  to  do  so.  The 
Indians  killed  the  baby  and  tied  the  mother's  hair  to 
a  pony's  tail  and  let  her  be  draggged  away.  After 
being  rescued  from  the  Indians,  Mrs.  Ewbanks  and 
daughter  died  from  the  effects  of  injuries  inflicted  on 
them  by  the  Indians. 

Children  were  tortured  until  death  relieved  them 
of  their  agony,  men  were  burned  at  the  stake  and 
suffered   other    indescribable   cruelties   that    onl}'   a 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  lOQ 

bloodthirsty  savage  could  invent;  women  were  car- 
ried into  captivity,  where  a  worse  fate  than  death 
awaited  them. 

Two  little  boys  living  near  Colorado  City  were 
scalped  and  left  alive;  whether  they  died  of  their 
injuries  or  not  is  not  known. 

On  the  Fountain  some  Indians  met  two  little 
boys  who  were  driving  the  cows  home  and  cut  their 
throats,  then  went  up  to  the  house  and  murdered  the 
rest  of  the  family,  James  Mock,  a  boy  yet  in  the 
'teens  and  a  neighbor  of  the  unfortunate  family, 
met  one  of  the  Indians  with  a  fresh  scalp  as  he  was 
leaving  the  place.  Not  knowing  how  many  Indians 
might  be  near  that  he  would  have  to  fight,  James 
took  his  chances,  killed  the  Indian  and  went  on  his 
way  unmolested. 

Every  stage  coach  was  in  danger,  the  driver  and 
passengers  never  expected  to  reach  the  end  of  the 
route;  they  were  taking  their  lives  in  their  own  hands 
when  starting  upon  a  journey.  Sometimes  they  got 
through  without  any  great  trouble,  but  more  often 
the  coaches  were  robbed  and  at  times  all  the  passen- 
gers killed. 


IIO  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

Words  fail  to  express  the  suffering  and  anxiety 
endured  by  the  settlers.  No  wonder  they  were  filled 
with  rage  and  revenge. 

Even  children  who  had  been  disturbed  in  their 
slumbers  and  had  to  run  to  the  soldiers  for  protection 
at  any  hour  of  the  night,  were  determined  to  "get 
even." 

The  following  story  will  illustrate  the  feeling  of 
the  children  and  show  how  they  even  feared  the  In- 
dians and  realized  the  need  of  protection. 

John  Shaw,  a  citizen  of  Pueblo,  had  a  family  of 
children  who  had  learned  to  run  to  the  fort  when 
they  heard  that  the  Indians  were  coming  and  they 
had  also  learned  to  hate  the  raiding  foe  that  always 
kept  them  in  such  fear.  Two  of  the  children,  Char- 
ley and  Ellen,  wanted  to  do  their  part  to  revenge 
themselves  on  the  Indians,  so  they  would  climb  on  a 
little  knoll  that  had  some  Mexican  graves  at  the  foot 
of  it.  The  children  thinking  that  they  were  Indian 
graves  would  throw  rocks  down  on  them,  when  their 
older  sister  or  parents  would  chide  them  for  it  they 
would  say,  "We  are  just  getting  even  with  the  In- 
juns." 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  111 

Charley  declared  that  when  he  got  big  he  would 
kill  Injuns,  and  since  Ellen  could  not  go,  she  did  the 
next  best  and  in  later  years  married  an  officer  in  the 
army  that  was  sent  in  the  southwestern  part  of  Colo- 
rado to  subdue  the  Indians  in  that  part  of  the  state. 

One  day  when  the  men  were  talking  about  the 
call  for  volunteers  and  how  quick  they  responded, 
Charley  stood  and  listened  to  every  word  and  decided 
he  was  big  enough  to  fight  Indians  and  hurried  home, 
took  down  an  old  gun,  nearly  as  large  as  himself, 
oiled  and  cleaned  it  and  was  just  leaving  the  house 
when  his  mother  saw  him  and  said,  "Why,  Charley; 
where  are  }ou  going?" 

"Jest  going  to  fight  the  bloody  Injuns  wiv  the 
vunteers."  He  was  very  serious  about  it  and  was 
determined  to  go,  and  his  mother  had  a  hard  time  to 
keep  him  from  going. 

When  little  children  not  yet  ten  years  of  age 
realized  the  condition  of  the  country  and  the  vast 
needs  of  defense,  what  could  be  expected  of  the 
older  ones,  who  saw  even  more  to  raise  them  up  and 
knew  the  great  importance  of  subduing  the  raiding 
foe? 


112  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

Even  when  they  had  continually  asked  aid  from 
every  known  direction  they  thought  it  might  be 
available,  and  was  refused  it  every  time,  what  else 
could  they  do  but  just  what  they  did*? 

How  would  the  people  have  judged  Evans  and 
Chivington  if  they  stood  back  and  let  the  country  be 
made  more  crimson  than  it  was  by  the  blood  of  the 
settlers  when  it  was  in  their  power  to  save  them^ 

It  is  easy  to  believe  that  they  would  have  been 
judged  as  cowards,  yet  those  who  condemned  them 
for  doing  as  they  did  would  have  condemned  them 
just  as  severely  if  they  had  stood  back  and  left  the 
country  to  the  mercy  of  the  savages,  and  would  have 
been  justified  in  doing  so. 

It  was  not  the  battle  alone  that  caused  some  of 
the  people  to  so  judge  Colonel  Chivington.  They 
saw  an  opportunity  to  use  it  as  an  instrument  to  aid 
in  furthering  their  own  selfish  desires.  If  Chivington 
was  cashiered,  that  is,  if  his  office  was  taken  from 
him,  some  of  these  other  officers  would  raise  in  rank. 

Then  again,  it  is  said,  that  some  of  the  officers 
at  Fort  Lyons,  who  had  been  deceived  into  believing 
that  the  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes  were  friendly. 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  II3 

had  been  making  a  little  money  on  the  side  trading 
with  the  Indians  and  of  course  the  Sand  Creek  fight 
put  an  end  to  this.  By  cashiering  Colonel  Chiving- 
ton,  they  could  shield  themselves. 

That  it  was  all  a  put  up  jop  could  be  plainly 
seen  by  just  a  little  of  Major  Anthony's  testimony 
given  at  the  trial  when  he  said,  "Boys,  I  can  help  fix 
up  a  lie,  but  when  it  comes  to  holding  up  this  fellow 
(indicating  his  right  hand)  and  swearing  to  it,  I 
can't  do  it." 

The  results  jf  the  trial,  which  dragged  along  six 
months  or  more,  then  dropping  without  accomplish- 
ing anything  in  particular,  shows  it  was  only  a  farce, 
leaving  Governor  Evans  and  Colonel  Chivington  to 
wear  the  stain. 

A  great  many  of  the  old  volunteers  and  pioneers 
who  witnessed  the  condition  of  the  country  and  the 
proceedings  of  affairs  that  existed  between  the  offi- 
cers, Indians,  volunteers  and  settlers  say  that  Evans 
and  Chivington  were  innocent  of  the  charges  against 
them  and  carried  the  burden  that  rightfully  belonged 
to  others. 


0  tit 

si 

0  ® 
CO  c 


•25 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

SAND  CREEK  A    DECISIVE   BATTLE. 

Turning  over  the  pages  of  history  we  find  from 
beginning  to  end  battles  that  must  decide  the  prog- 
ress of  civilization,  whether  it  was  to  raise  to  the 
highest  standard  of  mankind  or  fall  into  the  lowest 
depths  of  barbarism. 

The  following  are  a  few  of  the  deciding  battles 
that  have  been  handed  down  through  the  annals  of 
time. 

Going  back  to  490  B.  C,  we  find  the  battle  of 
Marathon,  where  the  Athenians  won  the  victory  over 
the  Persians  on  the  Plains  of  Marathon.  Thus 
changing  the  course  of  early  history. 

The  defeat  of  the  Athenians  at  Syracuse,  413  B. 
C,  the  battle  of  Arbela,  331  B.  C,  the  battles  of 
the  Metaures,  207  B.  C,  and  numerous  others  decid- 
ed what  the  foundation  of  modern  histor}^-  should  be 
built  upon.  Had  some  of  these  battles  resulted  in 
just  the  opposite  the  Greek  language  would  have 
been  the  root  of  the  French,  Spanish  and  Italian  in- 


1  l6  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

Stead  of  the  Latin.  The  laws  of  Athens  would  have 
been  the  basis  of  the  laws  of  the  world. 

The  battle  of  Hastings  in  1066,  and  Joan  of 
Arc's  victor)'  over  the  English  at  Orleans  in  1429; 
defeat  of  Spanish  Armada,  1588,  were  all  turning 
points  in  history. 

Crossing  the  Atlantic  and  coming  closer  home, 
we  have  the  American  victory  over  Burgoyne  at 
Saratoga,  1777,  which  meant  so  much  to  the  colo- 
nists. Freedom  and  liberty  of  a  new  and  indepen- 
dent nation. 

Later  when  the  United  States  was  divided  over 
the  slavery  and  seceding  question  and  the  Civil  war 
was  to  decide  the  answer,  were  Lee's  army  victo- 
rious, this  glorious  land  of  ours  would  be  divided. 
But  the  surrender  of  Lee  at  the  Appomattox  court 
house  was  the  decisive  point  in  the  rebellion  and  the 
salvation  of  the  United  States. 

Studying  over  these  battles  and  comparing  the 
outcome  as  it  is  today  and  what  it  might  have  been 
had  the  results  been  vice  versa,  we  see  that  "right  is 
might,"  and,  using  this  argument,  we  are  prepared  to 
class  the  Sand  Creek  battle  in  the  list  of  decisive  bat- 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  II7 

ties.  Consider  the  facts  before  the  fight  and  notice 
the  outcome  of  it  and  what  might  have  been  and  see 
if  you  cannot  agree  with  us. 

The  condition  of  affairs  before  the  battle  has  al- 
ready been  described,  so  we  need  not  dwell  longer  on 
them,  but  look  at  what  this  western  country  is  today 
and  what  it  might  have  been  if  the  Indians  had  won 
the  Sand  Creek  fight  or  if  it  had  never  been  fought. 

The  Indians  would  kill  the  settlers  and  push 
them  back  towards  the  east  and  prevent  the  growth 
of  the  nation,  while  the  white  people  were  fighting 
among  themselves  the  savages  would  combine  to- 
gether and  gradually  crowd  eastward  on  to  the  un- 
suspecting people  while  their  troops  were  away,  and 
perhaps  in  time  they  would  get  control,  and  instead 
of  this  being  the  land  of  which  we  are  all  so  proud,  a 
place  of  refuge  for  the  oppressed  of  foreign  lands,  it 
would  be  a  heathen  and  undeveloped  land. 

The  Sand  Creek  fight  was  the  means  of  pushing 
the  Indians  further  west  and  opening  up  the  frontier 
and  showed  whether  the  wheels  of  progress  should 
turn  and  make  homes  for  millions  of  people  and 
raise   the   standard   of  civilization   and   prosperity 


Il8  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


higher,  or  if  this  west  of  bountiful  wealth,  health 
and  untold  opportunities  should  remain  a  wilderness 
and  barren  waste. 

There  are  a  great  many  noted  generals  and 
leaders  who  figured  in  the  decisive  battles,  such  as 
Miltiades,  Xerxes,  Alexander,  Napoleon,  down  to 
Washington,  Burgoyne,  Grant,  Lee,  Gates,  Sherman 
and  a  great  many  others,  all  of  whom  won  laurels 
for  themselves  and  had  historians,  poets  and  orators 
to  sing  their  praises. 

This  was  in  a  distant  and  remote  country,  not 
many  to  witness  it,  but  when  it  is  all  summed  up,  in 
comparison  to  the  population,  means  and  what  they 
had  to  contend  with,  did  not  Governor  Evans  and 
Colonel  Chivington  accomplished  just  as  great  a  vic- 
tory *?  Does  not  the  growth  of  the  West,  built  by 
our  own  fathers  appeal  as  strongly  to  you  as  the  vic- 
tory of  some  foreign  lands  that  are  praised  by  some 
of  our  own  writers  who  seem  to  overlook  the  strug- 
gles, suffering  and  blood  shed  in  our  behalf,  by  our 
fathers  or  grandfathers  here  at  home^ 

What  Colorado  is  today  is  really  due  to  Gover- 
nor Evans  for  calling  out  volunteers,  and  Colonel 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  1  IQ 

Chivington  for  commanding  them  as  he  did,  and  to 
the  little  band  of  volunteers  for  being  so  brave  and 
ready  to  obey  the  call  of  duty.  There  were  also  a 
few  fights  made  later,  such  as  General  Forsythe's 
battle  with  Roman  Nose  and  his  band  in  eastern 
Colorado,  that  helped  to  pave  the  way  into  the  West. 
We  must  not  overlook  the  services  rendered  by  the 
scouts  in  guiding  the  settlers  to  new  homes  and  lead- 
ing the  soldiers  on  to  the  enemy's  camps,  although 
they  do  not  get  so  much  credit  as  the  officers,  yet 
they  are  indispensable. 

These  officers,  soldiers,  scouts  and  settlers  over- 
came the  country's  greatest  foe,  when  the  United 
States  army  refused  to  do  it,  and  had  they  waited 
until  the  rebellion  was  over  for  the  government 
troops  to  help  them,  there  would  not  have  been  many 
settlers  left  and  it  would  have  thrown  the  progress 
of  the  West  back  many  years. 

"So  let  us,  the  descendants  of  those  brave  volun- 
teers and  pioneers,  erect  a  monument  of  gratitude  in 
our  hearts  to  their  memory." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


THE  YELLOW  HAIRED  BOY 


When  the  Third  regiment  arrived  at  Fort  Lyons, 
all  tlie  soldiers  were  inspected  and  those  not  fit  for 
service  were  left  behind. 

A  boy  in  Captain  Johnston's  company  was  left 
out  because  he  was  too  young,  not  yet  eighteen.  In 
appearance  he  seemed  older,  being  over  six  feet  tall 
but  very  thin.  He  had  a  fair  babyish  face  framed 
with  curly  golden  hair  that  was  unusually  long  and 
tangled.  He  seemed  to  be  anxious  to  take  part  in 
the  raid  against  the  Indians  and  when  told  that  he 
must  remain  at  the  fort  he  was  greatly  disappointed. 

Lieutenant  Gilson  went  to  Captain  Johnston, 
"Captain,  what  am  I  to  do  with  that  boy,  he  is  over 
there  crying  and  begging  to  go  with  us."  The  Cap- 
tain studied  a  few  moments  before  answering,  "Well, 
I  guess  we  might  as  well  let  him  go;  get  him  the 
poorest  horse  out  of  the  cabby  yard  and  that  old 
weather-beaten  Mexican  saddle  there  on  the  fence 
and  an  old  halter  while  I  find  a  gun  for  him." 


122  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

The  Lieutenant  did  as  bidden  and  the  Captain 
found  an  old  infantry  gun  that  shot  a  full  ounce  ball 
and  had  a  four-inch  cartridge.  These  officers  sup- 
posed the  boy  would  return  to  the  fort  before  they 
had  gone  very  far  and  they  were  fixing  up  to  have 
some  sport  with  him. 

As  the  command  marched  away,  a  poor  little 
pony,  loaded  with  the  yellow-haired  boy  and  the  in- 
fantry gun,  was  wearily  dragging  along  behind  the 
cavalry.  When  the  pony  appeared  fagged  out  the 
boy  would  walk. 

When  the  command  arrived  at  Sand  Creek  and 
the  soldiers  were  ordered  to  dismount,  they  had  for- 
gotten about  the  boy,  so  after  the  fight  commenced 
in  the  creek,  they  were  greatly  surprised  to  see  a  little 
white  and  poor  Indian  pony  with  a  Mexican  saddle 
on  and  dragging  a  halter  leave  the  other  horses  and 
follow  the  Indians  to  the  sand  pits,  where  it  stood 
about  thirty  minutes  before  any  of  the  shots  ex- 
changed hit  it.  The  soldiers  wondered  where  the 
rider  was  but  naturally  supposed  that  he  had  been 
killed  at  the  start. 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  I23 

When  the  fight  was  raging  the  hardest,  an  ob- 
ject was  seen  to  creep  cautiously  to  the  edge  on  the 
bank  just  opposite  the  soldiers  and  directly  over  the 
Indians.  The  object  would  hestitate  a  moment,  then 
suddenly  a  loud  report  similar  to  a  cannon  would 
boom  out  and  a  dense  smoke  would  rise  up  from  the 
south  side  of  the  creek.  The  instant  the  report  was 
heard,  an  Indian  could  be  seen  to  fall.  The  other 
Indians  would  turn  and  fire  into  the  dense  smoke. 
When  the  smoke  cleared  away  there  was  nothing  in 
sight  where  the  object  had  been. 

Every  few  minutes  this  was  repeated  and  every 
time  the  shots  took  effect.  Finally  one  of  the  sol- 
diers was  sent  around  to  investigate  and  see  who  was 
there.  Nearing  the  scene  of  the  single-handed  artil- 
lery, he  called  out,  "You  had  better  leave  the  place, 
the  soldiers  might  accidentally  overshoot."  The  yel- 
low haired  boy  just  aimed  his  old  infantry  gun  down 
over  the  bank  and  went  on  bombarding  the  sand  pits 
below  and  yelled  back  to  the  soldier,  "O,  I  guess 
not,"  in  his  usual  slow  and  drawling  way. 

The  old  gun  was  so  heavy  and  the  boy  so  light 
that  at  everv  shot  it  would  kick  the  bov  backwards, 


124  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

thus  causing  the  arrows  aimed  at  him  from  below  to 
miss  their  mark. 

Upon  leaving  the  battle  ground,  the  yellow- 
haired  boy  and  two  companions  were  brought  sud- 
denly face  to  face  with  a  huge  Indian,  who  rose  up 
out  of  the  grass  a  few  feet  ahead  of  them  and  pointed 
his  gun  at  the  yellow-haired  boy;  there  was  no  time 
for  the  boy  to  aim  and  fire,  so  quick  as  a  flash  the 
infantry  gun  flew  threw  the  air  and  landed  on  the 
Indian,  knocking  him  flat.  The  boy  walked  on  into 
camp  the  most  unconcerned  one  in  the  regiment. 

In  dragging  the  Indians  out  of  the  pit  on  the  fol- 
lowing morning,  twenty-seven  were  found  with  an 
enormous  hole  torn  clear  through  them  that  only  an 
infantry  gun  could  make. 

When  Colonel  Chivington  was  told  of  the  boy's 
bravery  and  success,  he  ordered  that  the  best  horse 
and  outfit  taken  from  the  Indians  be  given  to  him 
and  the  Colonel  presented  the  yellow-haired  boy  with 
Black  Kettle's  outfit. 

The  last  the  regiment  ever  saw  of  the  single 
handed  artillery  it  was  going  with  the  Mexicans  and 
horses  back  to  Fort  Lyons,  but  it  never  got  there, 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  12  5" 

nor  could  any  trace  be  found  of  it.  Shaw,  who  had 
taken  quite  a  fancy  to  the  boy,  offered  a  reward  for 
any  knowledge  of  him.  The  yellow-haired  boy  dis- 
appeared just  as  mysteriously  as  he  appeared  on  the 
scene.  Some  thought  the  Mexicans  had  killed  him 
but  the  majority  believed  he  went  back  to  his  home 
in  Kansas.  From  what  few  remarks  he  made,  he  left 
the  impression  that  some  of  his  people  had  been  killed 
by  the  Indians  and  he  joined  the  volunteers  to  get  a 
better  chance  for  revenge,  and  accomplishing  his  pur- 
pose, he  was  ready  to  return  to  what  relatives  and 
friends  he  had  left  back  in  his  old  home. 


CHAP!  ER  XVIII. 

MARCH  TO   FORT   LARNARD. 

By  A.  K.  Shaw  and  John  Patterson. 

On  the  afternoon  of  December  the  tenth,  1864, 
the  day  after  the  fight,  the  command  was  ordered 
out  to  follow  the  Indians  of  Little  Raven's  band 
down  on  the  Arkansas. 

The  soldiers  broke  camp  and  started  down  Sand 
Creek  until  reaching  the  Arkansas,  then  they  fol- 
lowed down  it  on  forced  march. 

Flynn  Loogstrum's  horse  gave  out,  so  he  waited 
for  Captain  Cree  to  come  along,  "Say,  Captain,  my 
horse  has  played  out,  got  another  one*?" 

"No,  we  haven't,  and  can't  get  one  now;  you 
will  have  to  fall  in  behind." 

"Gosh  I  Believe  I  can  walk  and  keep  up  with 
this  outfit." 

He  shouldered  his  gun  and  started  down  the  road 
tugging  along  behind  the  command,  when  they 
stopped  Flynn  was  with  them. 

When  the  soldiers  saw  the  camp  fires  of  the  In- 
dians several  miles  down  the  river,  they  thought  they 


128  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


would  be  able  to  rush  down  on  the  Indians  and  take 
them  by  surprise,  but  the  night,  just  before  the  break 
of  day,  was  so  cold  and  still  that  a  sound  traveled  a 
great  distance.  The  rattling  of  the  artillery  as  it  was 
taken  so  fast  over  the  frozen  ground,  warned  the 
Indians,  who  mounted  their  ponies  and  dashed  off 
toward  the  bluffs  just  before  the  command  arrived. 

The  cavalry  started  in  pursuit,  but  their  horses 
were  hungry  and  weak,  having  had  but  very  little 
feed  for  several  days  and  they  had  been  on  the  battle 
field  all  the  day  before  and  marching  all  night  on 
forced  march.  For  a  time  they  gave  the  Indians  a 
lively  chase,  but  before  long  the  horses  began  to  fail, 
and  finally  they  were  all  left  behind  except  Shaw 
and  Captain  Cree,  they  kept  on  racing  to  see  which 
of  them  had  the  best  horse  and  could  follow  the  In- 
dians the  farthest.  Before  long  Shaw  was  riding  by 
himself  and  Cree  acknowledged  that  Shaw  had  the 
best  horse  and  asked  to  borrow  it  to  ride  up  to 
Boone's  ranch  to  see  his  girl.  He  did,  but  Shaw 
never  got  the  five  dollars  the  Captain  promised  him. 

The  command,  after  resting  and  feeding  their 
horses,  started  back  to  Fort  Lyons.     They  met  the 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  129 

transportation  wagons  on  the  way  coming  with  fresh 
supplies.  The  wagons  turned  back  and  went  into  Fort 
Lyons  with  the  command,  where  they  waited  a  few 
days  to  rest  the  horses  and  repair  the  wagons  before 
undertaking  the  march  up  the  Fountain  and  over  the 
divide  down  into  Denver. 

Before  leaving  Fort  Lyons,  Alston  Shaw  was 
made  U.  S.  deputy  marshal  to  take  charge  of  the 
seven  hundred  head  of  horses  and  deliver  them  in  to 
Denver.  He  left  Fort  Lyons  a  day  ahead  of  the 
command. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


SHAW   AND   THE    HORSES. 


The  first  night  out  they  made  Pueblo.  Some 
time  in  the  night  forty  horses  were  stolen.  In  the 
morning  Shaw  sent  an  escort  on  with  the  other  horses, 
while  he  and  Ad.  Williamson  went  to  look  for  the 
missing  ones. 

Shaw  and  Williamson  traced  the  horses  up  the 
Little  Fountain.  After  proceeding  a  few  miles,  they 
came  upon  a  Mexican  in  a  thicket  of  willows.  When 
Shaw  questioned  him  in  regard  to  the  missing  horses 
and  asked  if  he  had  seen  any  stray  ones,  the  Mexican 
would  answer,  "No  savy,  senor,  no  savy."  The 
deputy  marshal  being  familiar  with  the  bluffs  and 
deceiving  qualities  of  the  Mexicans,  thought  he 
not  only  fully  understood  the  question  but  also  knew 
the  whereabouts  of  the  horses,  so  he  used  a  stronger 
method.  Turning  to  Williamson,  he  said,  "Ad., 
shoot  that  Mexican ;  see  if  he  can  savy  that." 

The  Mexican  undoubtedly  did,  for  he  raised  his 
hands  and  said,  "No  shootie  me,  no  shootie  me." 


1,'^2  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

"Can  you  tell  us  where  the  horses  are?" 

"Look  in  the  brush,"  and  the  Mexican  pointed 
farther  up  the  creek.  They  followed  his  advice  and 
found  the  horses  tied  in  the  willows.  Shaw  sent 
^^^illiamson  on  with  the  horses  to  overtake  the  others 
while  he  went  scouting.  He  came  upon  a  camp  of 
Ute  Indians  and  stopped  there  all  night.  The  In- 
dians took  a  fancy  to  the  scalps  he  had  taken  at  the 
Sand  Creek  fight,  so  when  he  was  leaving  the  next 
morning  he  gave  them  the  scalps  to  show  his  appre- 
ciation of  the  hospitality  they  had  extended  to  him. 
The  Ute  Indians  were  a  peaceful  band  and  feared 
the  others  as  much  as  the  settlers  did.  After  riding 
all  day  he  joined  the  command  and  the  escort  with 
the  horses  that  same  night  in  Colorado  City. 

Before  leaving  Pueblo,  Major  Bowan  began 
drinking.  Arriving  in  Colorado  City  where  more 
liquor  was  available,  he  started  in  on  a  good  spree. 
Colonel  Chivington  noticed  the  condition  he  was  in 
and  took  him  upstairs  and  locked  him  in  his  room. 

The  shrewd  Major  upon  finding  himself  locked 
in  and  his  booze  all  gone,  took  his  sword  and  un- 
screwed the  door  latch. 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  I33 

The  soldiers  sleeping  near  the  stairway  were  dis- 
turbed by  the  clink,  clink  of  a  sword  as  it  went 
thumping  over  the  steps.  The  Major  made  several 
trips  up  to  his  room  carr)'ing  the  glasses  and  bottles 
from  the  cellar  and  had  a  midnight  spree  all  by  him- 
self. Next  morning  he  stopped  at  the  head  of  the 
stairs,  looking  down  to  the  soldiers  below,  said  in  a 
very  eloquent  style  that  only  a  practised  lawyer  or 
orator  could  use,  "What  would  Mrs.  Bowan  say  if 
she  saw  me  now*?  Would  it  be,  'There  comes  that  old 
Bowan  drunk  again"?"  Then  more  emphatically, 
"No,  never,  but  instead,  'there  comes  my  dearly  be- 
loved husband.'  " 

The  command  left  that  morning  to  cross  the 
divide,  the  horses  waiting  a  day  longer  in  Colorado 
City  to  give  the  command  a  chance  to  get  across  be- 
fore crowding  upon  them. 

The  snow  was  so  deep  in  the  mountains  that  it 
seemed  at  first  impossible  to  get  over  the  divide.  But 
with  the  cavalry  horses  plunging  through  the  snow 
and  the  cannon  and  wagons  ploughing  along  behind 
them,  they  finally  succeeded  in  arriving  in  Denver 
about  the  first  of  the  year,  where  thev  received  their 


134  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

discharge  papers,  and  the  hundred-day  volunteers 
went  back  to  their  homes  and  farms  with  a  stronger 
assurance  that  in  the  future  they  could  till  their 
lands  and  build  up  their  homes  without  so  great  a 
fear  of  violence  from  the  Indians. 

After  the  command  was  safe  over  the  divide, 
Shaw  started  across  with  the  horses.  They  only  got 
up  to  Mrs.  Culberinie's  place  the  first  day.  The  horses 
were  weak  and  could  not  travel  far  at  a  time.  There 
were  four  large  fine  mules  in  the  bunch  that  Shaw 
took  quite  a  fancy  to,  so  he  hid  them  out  and  in- 
tended to  return  for  them,  but  some  one  else  admired 
those  same  mules.  When  Shaw  went  to  get  them, 
he  only  found  a  note  saying,  "I  will  see  you  later." 
But  we  can  be  sure  he  never  did. 

Mrs.  Culberinie  had  shown  such  kindness  to  the 
escort  and  gave  them  such  a  welcome  that  upon  leav- 
ing Shaw  presented  her  daughter,  Hersey,  with  a 
little  pinto  pony  that  the  girl  had  become  so  at- 
tached to. 

When  the  volunteers  were  called  out,  Governor 
Evans  had  issued  a  proclamation  allowing  the  sol- 
diers to  keep  the  trophies  they  captured  from  the  In- 


TflE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  1 35 

dians.  Shaw  remembered  this  and  took  advantage 
of  it,  so  when  he  arrived  in  Denver  he  had  eighty- 
four  left  out  of  the  seven  hundred  horses,  from  these 
he  kept  a  pair  of  little  pinto  ponies  and  one  little 
white  one  for  himself.  Later  he  gave  the  pinto  team 
to  Major  Downing  who  sent  them  east. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

LITTLE   HAPPENINGS  IN   DENVER. 

No  sooner  had  the  command  arrived  in  Denver 
than  A.  A.  Neiland  and  Charles  Pearson  hurried  on 
through  Denver  not  waiting  for  their  discharge  pa- 
pers, and  went  down  to  their  homes  on  Henderson's 
Bar,  fifteen  miles  from  Denver.  Here  they  left 
their  horses  and  returned  to  Denver  for  their  dis- 
charge papers.  They  were  immediately  arrested  as 
deserters  and  put  in  jail. 

When  Alston  Shaw  got  into  Denver  with  the 
horses,  one  of  Neiland's  friends  went  to  him  and  told 
him  of  Neiland's  and  Pearson's  trouble  and  ending 
by  saying,  "They  will  be  tried  as  deserters  and  suffer 
the  penalty."  "O,  I  guess  not,"  said  Shaw  and 
walked  away. 

Lieutenant  Sully  was  on  guard  at  the  jail  and 
was  suddenly  surprised  by  a  gruff  voice,  "What  have 
you  got  those  fellows  in  there  for"?" 

'T  don't  know  as  it  is  any  of  your  business." 
"I  will  make  it  my  business,"  and  Shaw  started 
away  in  search  of  some  of  their  comrades. 


138  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

Soon  afterwards  Sully  was  disturbed  by  a  com- 
mand to  let  the  prisoners  out.  He  hesitated  but  just 
for  a  moment ;  he  saw  a  battering-ram  in  the  hands  of 
eight  men  and  heard  a  voice  saying,  "If  you  don't 
let  'em  out  we  will  knock  the  door  in."  Sully  de- 
cided the  easiest  way  out  of  the  difficulty  was  to  un- 
lock the  door  and  let  Neiland  and  Pearson  out, 
which  he  did  and  nothing  was  ever  heard  about  the 
deserters. 

The  soldiers  who  had  not  gotten  a  horse  out  of 
the  bunch  had  been  told  by  Shaw  to  go  get  one. 
But  for  some  reason  Bill  Youle  would  not  go  ask  for 
one  nor  take  one  when  the  other  volunteers  did. 

During  the  night  after  getting  into  Denver,  four 
horses  were  stolen  from  the  Elephant  corral.  Shaw 
placed  a  guard  over  the  remaining  ones  and  went  to 
look  for  the  others. 

He  traveled  several  miles  before  finding  any  trace 
of  them.  He  finally  came  onto  their  tracks  and  after 
following  them  a  short  distance  he  saw  the  four 
horses  and  two  men  going  up  the  opposite  bank  of  the 
gulch.  Shaw  drew  his  revolver  and  ordered  them  to 
throw  up  their  hands,  which  they  did.     As  Shaw 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  1  39 

drew  nearer  he  recognized  one  of  the  men,  "Why, 
Bill,"  he  said,  "you  foolish  fellow;  you  didn't  need 
to  steal  those  horses,  you  know  you  had  them  coming 
to  you.  I  followed  because  I  thought  some  one 
might  have  them  that  had  no  business  with  them. 
Just  keep  them  and  go  on;  I  won't  interfere."  Youle 
did  as  bidden  and  Shaw  turned  back  to  Denver. 

The  army  Commander  at  Fort  Leavenworth, 
Kansas,  ignored  Evans'  proclamation  and  sent  a  Mr. 
Smith  out  to  Denver  to  take  charge  of  the  Indian 
horses.  Upon  his  arrival  in  Denver  he  was  sent 
down  to  the  Elephant  corral  and  told  to  speak  to  the 
Deputy,  Shaw,  about  it.  Shaw  was  just  coming  out 
of  the  gate  when  a  stranger  stepped  up  to  him, 
"Your  name  is  Shaw,  I  believe." 

"Guess  you  are  right." 

"You  have  held  out  some  of  those  horses  for 
yourself,  haven't  you 9" 

"Yes,  sir,  two  of  them,  down  in  the  barn  on 
Fifteenth  street." 

"Well,  Shaw,  I  will  have  to  take  them  as  I  have 
orders  from  headquarters  to  gather  up  all  the  In- 
dian horses  and  take  charge  of  them." 


140  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

So  saying  Smith  started  in  the  direction  of  the 
barn  but  Shaw  stopped  him  by  saying,  "Smith,  if 
you  put  a  hand  on  either  of  those  horses,  I  will  shoot 
you  so  full  of  holes  that  you  won't  hold  corn  husks." 

Instead  of  going  to  the  barn,  Smith  went  to 
Auctioneer  Clark  and  asked,  "What  kind  of  a  fellow 
is  that  Shaw?' 

"Straight  as  a  string,  afraid  of  nothing,  protects 
his  own  interest  or  anyone  else  who  is  being  run  over ; 
stands  for  whatever  he  thinks  right,  stubborn  as  a 
mule  and  always  keeps  his  word." 

Smith  then  told  Clark  the  threat  Shaw  made  and 
asked  his  opinion. 

"Well,"  said  Clark,  "If  he  said  that,  my  advice 
is  to  let  him  alone,  for  he  always  makes  good  his 
promise." 

Smith  wanting  to  get  even  for  being  so  baffled 
on  his  errand,  watched  for  an  opportunity  to  get  re- 
venge. 

While  he  was  talking  to  Clark,  Shaw  had  a  sol- 
dier to  go  run  the  horses  down  to  Neiland's  place. 

Smith  was  wandering  around  in  the  barn  and 
noticed   an  old  government  saddle  among  Shaw's 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  I4I 

things.  He  immediately  went  and  swore  out  a  war- 
rant for  Shaw's  arrest,  charging  him  of  having  gov- 
ernment property  in  his  possession.  The  case  was 
taken  to  U.  S.  Marshal  Joe  Davis,  who  readily  saw 
into  the  scheme  and  knew  it  was  just  a  case  of  re- 
venge, but  coming  from  an  officer  from  headquarters, 
Davis  had  to  go  through  with  it  even  if  he  believed 
Shaw  was  all  right.  So  he  put  Shaw  under  eleven 
thousand  dollar  bonds  and  knew  while  he  was  doing 
it  that  neither  Shaw  nor  his  sixteen  bondsmen  had 
six  bits  of  their  own.  What  difference  did  it  make, 
it  was  only  a  farce.  Smith  went  back  to  Fort  Leaven- 
worth without  any  horses,  and  nothing  more  was 
heard  of  the  eleven  thousand  dollar  bond  or  the  six- 
teen bondsmen. 


CHIEF  "LITTLE  WHITE  CLOUD' 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

DEPREDATIONS   OF    INDIANS   ON    GEARY's    NEIGHBORS. 

'^old  by  J.  Patterson. 

The  Indians  made  a  raid  through  the  country 
east  of  the  present  site  of  Greeley,  stealing  horses 
and  cattle  and  killing  the  settlers. 

Geary  had  a  hundred  and  fifty  horses  stolen  and 
a  large  number  were  taken  from  Kempton's  ranch 
at  the  same  time. 

Lieutenant  J.  L.  Brush's  brother,  William  Brush, 
his  cousin,  J.  L.  Conway,  and  a  friend,  Carlson,  were 
putting  up  hay  on  Geary's  ranch  when  they  were  sur- 
prised by  the  Indians.  Next  day  John  Patterson 
and  some  of  the  other  neighbors  found  their  bodies 
lying  out  in  the  hot  sun.  They  were  so  badly  decom- 
posed that  a  door  had  to  be  taken  down  to  carrj'' 
them  on.  The  bodies  were  placed  in  a  wagon  loaded 
with  hay  and  conveyed  to  Brush's  ranch  on  Thomp- 
son creek  for  burial. 

A  group  of  three  families  lived  within  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  of  each  other.     In  one  of  these  was  a 


144  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

widow,  who  had  the  only  sod  house  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. When  a  report  of  approaching  Indians  came 
to  them,  these  families  would  all  go  to  Mrs.  Wiley's 
sod  house  for  protection.  They  went  over  nearly 
every  night,  returning  to  their  homes  in  the  mornings. 

Owing  to  the  sneaking  and  treacherous  way  the 
Indians  had  in  coming  down  on  them,  the  settlers 
had  to  use  the  utmost  precaution.  They  would  take 
turns  about  in  going  north  of  the  Platte  twice  a  day 
scouting  for  signs  of  Indians. 

Little  Geary  lived  down  the  river  about  five 
miles  from  this  little  settlement  of  three  families. 

Geary's  wife  was  a  squaw,  and  was  always  ready 
to  do  anything  for  him  or  the  settlers.  Knowing 
that  the  Indians  would  not  harm  her,  he  would  send 
her  down  in  the  river  bottom  to  set  fire  to  the  grass 
and  the  smoke  would  warn  the  settlers  above  them 
to  prepare  for  defense,  that  the  Indians  were  starting 
on  a  raid. 

Finally  the  Indians  began  to  come  to  Geary's 
ranch  so  much  that  the  settlers  grew  suspicious  and 
thought  that  perhaps  he  was  in  league  with  the  In- 
dians.     A   few  men   gathered   and   went   down   to 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  I45 

Geary's  one  night  and  secretly  surrounded  his  house, 
to  see  if  they  could  find  out  why  the  Indians  came 
there  so  much  and  if  he  was  in  league  with  them. 

After  waiting  outside  until  the  cold  got  beyond 
endurance,  they  left  a  guard  and  entered  the  house ; 
they  kept  changing  the  guard  so  that  it  would  not  be 
too  hard  on  any  one  person. 

Geary  was  told  what  they  were  there  for  and 
why  they  suspected  him. 

He  told  the  men  the  Indians  were  not  there  very 
much  when  he  was  home  but  did  not  know  about  it 
during  his  absence.  He  also  told  them  that  just  be- 
fore they  came  he  heard  a  pole  drop  out  at  the  cor- 
ral and  supposing  it  was  Indians  sent  his  wife  out  to 
see,  but  there  was  none  in  sight. 

About  midnight  the  dogs  began  to  bark  but  the 
guard  was  unable  to  see  anything.  The  dogs'  con- 
tinual howling  showed  that  something  was  wrong, 
and  kept  the  guard  on  a  sharp  lookout.  At  last, 
piercing  through  the  dark  he  could  see  an  object,  but 
was  not  able  to  distinguish  what  it  was,  so  called  out, 
"Who  comes  there?"  He  repeated  it  three  times  and 
receiving  no  answer,  he  fired.  The  commotion  brought 


146  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

the  Others  out  of  the  house  and  the  flash  of  the  shot 
revealed  to  them  an  Indian  running  away.  They  all 
shot  at  him  but  the  guard's  first  shot  took  effect  and 
the  Indian  fell  after  running  about  twenty-five  yards. 
In  the  timber  below  the  house,  Indians  could  be 
heard  moving  in  the  brush  and  seen  flashing  powder 
to  their  scout  to  signal  if  it  was  safe  for  them  to 
come  on,  receiving  no  answer  they  surmised  that 
something  was  wrong,  so  left. 

Geary  let  the  body  of  the  Indian  lay  out  by  the 
house  the  rest  of  the  night  and  the  next  morning  they 
did  not  recognize  it;  he  was  of  a  new  band  in  their 
vicinity.  The  men  all  got  souvenirs  from  the  In- 
dian. I  remember  my  brother,  R.  Patterson,  got  a 
little  white  stone  in  a  scabbard.  Gerry  said  that 
John  Kimsey  was  entitled  to  the  bow  and  arrows, 
since  he  was  the  guard  who  shot  the  Indian.  John 
is  living  in  Evans  and  I  presume  he  still  has  the  bow 
and  arrows  in  his  possession. 

A  bridle  and  several  ropes  hanging  on  the  trees 
near  the  corral  showed  what  the  Indians'  intentions 
had  been.     The  settlers  saw  that  Geary  was  not  in 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  I47 

league  with  the  Indians,  so   returned  home,   fully 
satisfied  with  his  fidelity. 

Grant  Ashcroft,  a  citizen  of  one  of  the  little 
settlements,  gathered  a  small  band  of  about  ten  men 
and  started  on  a  scouting  trip.  He  led  them  down 
the  river  until  they  came  upon  a  trail,  they  followed 
this  back  into  the  bluffs  and  came  onto  some  Indians. 
The  Indians  retreated  back  down  towards  the  river. 
It  being  high  water  season  they  had  to  follow  the 
river  quite  a  distance  before  finding  a  place  to  cross. 
Ashcroft  gave  them  a  chase  for  fifteen  miles,  about 
ten  miles  below  Geary's  the  Indians  went  over  a  high 
bank  and  the  citizens  fearing  that  there  might  be  a 
village,  hesitated.  There  were  only  a  few  Indians 
with  pack  horses  and  the  others  joined,  and  all  swam 
across  the  river  together.  The  white  men  fired  at 
them  but  thought  they  only  hit  one. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

CAPTAIN  peacock's  FIGHT. 

Js  "fold  By  W.  S.  Coburn. 

In  September,  1865,  I  put  up  improvements  on 
my  ranch  and  took  up  my  residence  there. 

About  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  twen- 
ty-second day  of  October,  I  came  down  out  of  the 
hills  where  I  had  been  hunting  my  stock.  Just  as  I 
came  down  on  the  road  near  my  place,  I  met  Cap- 
tain Peacock,  who  was  crossing  the  plains  with  a 
train  of  forty-four  wagons,  hauling  the  government 
supplies.  He  stopped  and  asked  me  if  I  had  seen 
any  Indians.  I  said  yes,  while  out  on  the  hills  I  ran 
across  three  and  in  the  distance  I  saw  a  large  dust  and 
upon  watching  it  closely  I  concluded  there  was  about 
a  hundred  Indians  in  the  bunch. 

Peacock  said,  "I  am  the  man  they  are  after,  they 
have  been  following  me  a  hundred  miles  or  more." 

I  advised  him  to  stay  with  me  until  things  would 
quiet  down  a  little,  for  I  had  a  good  defense  ar- 
ranged at  my  house  and  could  give  them  good  pro- 


150  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

tection.  But  he  persisted  in  going  on.  While  we 
were  talking,  I  looked  down  the  road  and  saw  a  band 
of  Indians  wrecking  the  telegraph  lines.  The  way 
they  usually  did  this  was  to  throw  a  rope  around  the 
pole  and  cut  the  pole,  some  then  take  a  number  of 
their  ponies  and  tie  their  tails  together  and  tie  the 
last  one's  tail  to  the  rope,  then  make  them  start  up 
quick,  jerking  the  pole  over,  and  would  cut  the  wires, 
thus  cutting  off  all  communication  to  the  fort  for  aid. 

My  partner  and  five  men  got  scared  out  and  went 
up  the  river  to  another  settlement  and  left  Henry 
Smith  and  myself  alone.  We  watched  the  train  go 
on  down  the  road  and  waited  to  see  what  its  fate 
would  be,  at  the  same  time  getting  in  readiness  to 
help  them  should  it  be  necessary. 

Peacock  doubled  the  teams  and  the  wagons  were 
driven  two  abreast,  so  if  attacked,  the  drivers  could 
jump  down  between  the  wagons  and  thus  protect 
themselves.  We  were  not  watching  long  before  we 
saw  the  Indians  come  down  out  of  the  bluffs  and 
begin  an  attack. 

After  the  fight  had  lasted  quite  a  while  the  In- 
dians went  back  in  the  hills  and  came  down  the 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  151 

second  time  and  attacked  the  train.  This  time  they 
had  left  their  horses  in  the  hills  out  of  sight  and 
came  down  on  foot  to  renew  the  fight.  I  turned  to 
my  companion  and  said,  "Now,  Henry,  here  is  our 
chance." 

We  cautiously  circled  over  the  hills,  intending 
to  run  their  horses  away  and  leave  the  Indians  on 
foot.  The  country  was  very  rolling  and  cut  up. 
Ridges  and  ravines  scattered  all  over  it. 

Going  down  over  a  ridge,  I  crept  up  and  looked 
over  into  a  ravine  and  saw  their  horses  all  tied  to  a 
telegraph  pole  that  had  been  thrown  across  the 
mouth  of  the  ravine,  and  three  Indians  guarding 
them. 

I  was  preparing  to  shoot  the  Indian  who  was 
nearest  to  me,  when  suddenly  a  pony  was  startled 
and  looked  up,  this  caused  the  Indian  to  turn  and  he 
saw  me  on  the  edge  above  him,  and  darted  in  among 
the  horses  before  I  could  fire  at  him.  I  said,  "The 
jig  is  up,  Smith."  But  we  fired  a  few  shots  to  run 
alarm  and  the  Indians  left  the  attack  and  ran  to  their 
horses.     While  they  were  untying  their  horses,  we 


152  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

were  hurrying  over  the  ridges  down  a  ravine  to  the 
road  and  turned  into  the  train. 

The  Indians  saw  us  as  we  went  into  the  train, 
but  undoubtedly  thinking  there  were  more  white 
men  in  the  hills,  rode  away. 

The  rough  and  rolling  land  gave  good  opportu- 
nities to  get  away  from  the  Indians,  or  good  places 
to  conceal  one's  self. 

After  scouring  over  the  surrounding  country  and 
being  unable  to  find  any  trace  of  others  that  might 
possibly  have  been  with  us,  the  Indians  made  an- 
other attack  on  the  wagons.  This  last  attack  began 
at  one  in  the  afternoon  and  lasted  until  four.  Fin- 
ally the  Indians  saw  they  could  not  accomplish  their 
aim  in  capturing  the  train  and  rode  away. 

When  we  ventured  out  from  the  shelter  of  the 
wagons,  we  found  one  man  killed  and  two  wounded 
out  of  the  sixty-two  poorly  armed  men,  while  the 
Indians  had  eight  dead  and  fifteen  wounded. 

I  later  learned  that  one  of  the  dead  Indians  was 
Old  Chief  Roman  Nose.  His  son.  Young  Roman 
Nose,  became  chief  and  led  the  band  on  just  as  great 
raids  as  his  father  had. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

INDIAN   CHARLEY, 

By  W.  S.  Coburn. 

During  the  winter  of  1865  I  had  a  man  and  his 
wife  working  for  me,  and  one  day  in  December,  just 
about  noon,  the  lady  saw  some  one  chasing  the  pup 
around  the  house  and  exclaimed,  "O,  look!  here  is  a 
squaw."  The  supposed  squaw  heard  her  and  came 
up  timidly  to  the  door  and  said,  "Me  no  squaw." 

It  was  a  white  boy,  apparently  twelve  years  of 
age  and  could  not  talk  English,  only  a  word  once  in 
a  while.  He  looked  like  he  was  nearly  worn  out  and 
was  carrying  a  dead  raven.  We  asked  him  why  he 
chased  the  pup,  and  he  answered,  "Me  hungry;  eat 
him,"  and  he  made  signs  of  catching  it  and  eating. 

After  we  had  fed  him,  he  told  us  his  stor}%  by 
means  of  signs  and  what  little  knowledge  we  had  of 
the  Indian  language. 

As  long  as  he  could  remember  he  lived  with  the 
Indians.  One  white  squaw  in  the  same  band  told 
him  that  he  did  not  belong  to  the  Indians,  and  there 


1  ^"4  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

was  a  better  life  for  him  back  in  the  heap  big  vil- 
lages (meaning  the  eastern  cities),  and  that  some  day- 
he  must  run  away  and  find  his  own  people. 

One  day  there  was  a  train  of  wagons  crossing  the 
plains  and  the  Indians  sent  him  and  an  Indian  boy 
out  to  spy  on  it.  They  followed  it  until  dark  and 
yet  it  did  not  make  camp.  Finally  the  sayings  of  the 
white  squaw  came  into  his  mind,  and  the  more  he 
thought  of  his  own  people,  whom  he  had  never  seen, 
the  greater  grew  his  desire  to  see  the  heap  big  vil- 
lages. 

When  the  Indian  boy  rode  back  to  the  lodges,  he 
was  alone.  The  white  boy  had  turned  his  pony's 
head  toward  the  north  and  was  hurrying  away  from 
the  Indian  camp.  By  various  ways  he  obtained  food 
and  would  sleep  out  on  the  prairie  some  nights;  at 
other  times  he  would  find  shelter  around  some  of  the 
ranches.  He  would  seldom  go  near  the  ranches,  for 
he  had  been  raised  to  believe  the  settlers  were  his 
worst  enemies  and  that  they  were  cruel  and  treach- 
erous. 

He  had  wandered  about  three  hundred  miles  up 
the  Arkansas  river  when  his  pony  fell  in  its  tracks, 
ridden  to  death. 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  1  55 


The  boy  was  determined  to  complete  his  under- 
taking, SO  he  bravely  started  on  foot.  He  did  not 
know  how  far  he  had  traveled  when  he  reached  my 
place,  but  had  lived  three  days  on  the  raven. 

We  named  him  Indian  Charley  and  kept  him 
three  or  four  months.  One  day,  after  he  got  more 
used  to  us  and  knew  he  was  in  friendly  hands,  he 
asked  me  about  the  fight  of  Captain  Peacock  last 
October. 

I  told  him  all  about  it  and  took  him  down  where 
the  Indian  bodies  were  lying  just  as  they  had  fallen. 
Charley  turned  them  over  and  called  them  by  name. 
One  he  called  Roman  Nose. 

Indian  Charley  was  a  bright  and  intelligent  boy, 
and  soon  learned  to  like  his  new  home.  He  picked 
up  our  language  quite  readily,  but  had  been  with  the 
Indians  so  long  that  he  had  some  of  their  traits. 
Every  time  he  was  offended  it  was,  "Me  kill;  me 
scalp."  On  one  occasion  some  one  was  teasing  him 
about  a  little  girl  at  one  of  the  neighboring  ranches. 
Charley  did  not  like  to  be  teased,  so  he  grabbed  up  a 
gun  and  said,  "Me  kill,"  and  was  just  ready  to  shoot 
when  one  of  the  men  took  the  gun  from  him. 


1  ^6  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

The  other  ranchers  up  and  down  the  river  for 
about  forty  miles  began  to  get  suspicious  and  decided 
that  Charley  was  spying  for  the  Indians.  I  did  not 
think  so,  but  at  last,  to  ease  the  minds  of  my  neigh- 
bors, I  saw  I  would  have  to  get  rid  of  him. 

Colonel  King,  with  the  Sixth  Missouri  cavalry, 
was  starting  for  St.  Louis,  and  I  asked  him  to  take 
Charley  and  see  what  he  could  do  for  the  boy.  King 
consented  to  take  him.  I  fixed  up  a  good  outfit  for 
him  and  told  him  of  our  arrangements  for  his  wel- 
fare. He  did  not  want  to  leave  me,  and  said,  "To- 
night, all  still,  me  scalp,  take  horse  and  come  back." 
I  tried  to  reason  with  him,  but  could  not;  so  I  told 
King  about  his  threat  and  also  his  Indian  traits,  so 
he  would  be  prepared  for  any  outbreak. 

Colonel  King  arrived  in  St.  Louis  with  the  boy 
and  advertised  him.  People  came  from  far  and  near 
hoping  it  might  be  a  child  they  had  lost,  or  one  of 
some  of  their  friends,  but  they  would  all  leave  disap- 
pointed, and  it  began  to  look  as  though  Indian  Char- 
ley would  not  find  his  own  people  whom  he  took 
such  desperate  chances  to  see. 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  157 


Several  years  previous  to  this,  a  family  started 
across  the  plains  for  California.  Their  people  never 
heard  from  them  directly,  but  a  short  time  after  they 
started,  a  brother  of  the  father  of  the  unfortunate 
family  was  told  that  they  had  all  been  massacred  by 
the  Indians. 

When  he  had  heard  so  much  about  the  unknown 
boy  in  St.  Louis,  he  began  to  think  possibly  one  of 
his  brother's  boys  might  have  been  spared  and  taken 
captive  by  the  Indians.  He  took  some  photographs 
of  his  brother's  family  and  went  to  St.  Louis.  By 
means  of  a  particular  characteristic  he  was  enabled 
to  identify  Indian  Charley  as  his  brother's  youngest 
child,  who  was  only  a  baby  when  they  started  across 
the  plains. 

Charley  was  taken  to  his  uncle's  home  in  Quincy. 
111.,  and  put  in  school. 

Four  years  later,  when  I  was  standing  on  a  rail- 
road platform,  a  fine  looking  young  fellow  jumped 
from  the  train,  ran  up  to  me,  shook  hands  and  asked 
me  all  kinds  of  questions  about  myself.  I  answered 
his  questions  and  said,  "Well,  you  have  got  me 
bested;  I  don't  know  you."     "Why,  don't  you  re- 


158  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

member  Indian  Charley?"  I  was  greatly  surprised 
and  pleased  to  meet  the  boy  again.  We  only  had  a 
few  moments  to  talk  before  his  train  went  on.  I 
never  saw  him  again,  but  have  been  told  since  that 
the  Indian  traits  had  been  so  impressed  on  his  mind 
that  he  became  a  roving  and  reckless  fellow  and 
eventually  went  to  the  bad. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

LITTLE  HORSE  AND  HIS  BAND. 

As  'Told  by  W.  S.  Co  burn. 

An  under  chief,  called  Little  Horse,  brought  his 
band  in  near  Jim  Moore's  ranch  and  camped  there 
nearly  all  winter.  They  pretended  to  be  on  friendly 
terms  with  the  ranchers,  and  often  went  out  on 
hunting  trips,  but  in  reality  they  were  communicat- 
ing with  hostile  tribes,  to  let  them  know  the  situa- 
tion and  circumstances  of  the  ranchers. 

In  February  they  moved  camp  and  took  along 
about  fifty  head  of  Moore's  horses  and  mules  and 
started  south.  Jim  Moore  went  to  Fort  Sedgwick 
and  got  a  troop  of  cavalry  of  eighty  men  under  Cap- 
tain Mix  and  Lieutenant  Arms,  to  follow  the  In- 
dians. Kelly,  Moore,  Buffalo  John  and  myself  acted 
as  scouts.  The  Indians  had  four  days  start  of  us 
when  we  took  their  trail.  For  four  hundred  miles 
we  followed  them,  and  long  since  made  up  our  minds 
that  when  we  did  find  them  we  would  run  into  a 
large  band  of  them.     Sure  enough,  we  did. 


l6o  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

Spotted  Tail,  with  eight  hundred  warriors,  sud- 
denly appeared  before  us,  and  some  one  in  his  band 
shouted  to  us,  "Don't  shoot,  or  I  am  a  goner."  Cap- 
tain Mix  put  up  a  flag  of  truce  and  Spotted  Tail 
with  twenty-six  other  chiefs,  came  out  to  meet  the 
officers  and  we  scouts,  to  negotiate  for  terms. 

Our  horses  were  facing  those  of  the  Indians  and 
stood  so  close  that  their  heads  interlapped,  thus  plac- 
ing their  riders  quite  near  to  each  other. 

Under  Chief  Two  Strike  was  next  to  me,  and 
when  the  other  Indians  put  out  their  hands  and  said, 
"How" — their  way  of  greeting — Two  Strike  re- 
mained silent  and  refused  to  offer  me  his  hand.  From 
then  on  during  the  council,  I  just  ignored  him.  I 
noticed  that  during  the  council  Two  Strike  was  non- 
chalant and  grouchy;  he  would  only  answer  with 
grunts.  I  soon  learned  the  cause.  Spotted  Tail  and 
his  old  warriors  favored  peace,  while  Two  Strike  and 
the  young  warriors  were  anxious  to  fight.  Since  Old 
Chief  Spotted  Tail  held  the  highest  authority,  the 
others  had  to  submit  to  his  terms.  Finally  he  said 
if  we  would  leave  that  part  of  the  country  and  prom- 
ise never  to  return,  they  would  not  harm  us;  if  not, 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  l6l 

we  would  all  be  massacred.  We  accepted  the  terms 
and  agreed  to  leave  at  daylight  the  following  morn- 
ing and  not  look  any  further  for  Little  Horse  and  his 
band. 

After  the  council,  which  lasted  three  hours,  was 
over,  we  had  a  friendly  chat  with  the  Indians.  Billy 
Lee,  who  had  shouted  to  us  not  to  shoot  when  we 
first  met  the  Indians,  was  a  trader  in  Spotted  Tail's 
village  and  was  under  the  protection  of  that  chief. 
It  was  customary  with  the  Indians  that  if  they  were 
attacked  by  the  white  people,  to  kill  all  the  whites 
who  happened  to  be  in  the  village,  whether  as  a 
trader  or  as  a  captive.  Billy  Lee  acted  as  interpreter 
during  the  council  and  also  the  friendly  visit  we  had 
with  them. 

Two  Strike  touched  the  cartridge  in  my  belt  and 
said,  "Heap  shoot;"  then  touched  the  point  of  my 
hunting  knife  and  said,  "Ugh  I  Heap  long  knife." 
He  wanted  to  trade  me  two  buffalo  robes,  valued  at 
$20  each,  and  a  deer  hide  worth  about  $10  for  my 
knife.  I  would  not  trade  with  him,  and  said,  "The 
first  thing  you  would  do  would  be  to  tr}'  that  knife 
on  my  scalp."    He  only  smiled  and  grunted,  as  much 


l62  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


as  to  say,  more  than  likely  he  would  at  the  first  op- 
portunity. 

He  then  noticed  the  artillery  and  wanted  to  see 
it.  I  took  him  around  to  the  cannon  and  explained 
how  the  powder  was  put  in,  and  how  to  handle  the 
ram-rod,  etc.,  and  finished  by  saying,  "Big  noise; 
heap  shoot;  kill  all  Indians  around,"  and  at  the  same 
time  pointed  to  all  the  Indians  in  sight.  Two  Strike 
was  not  interested  in  the  heap  big  guns  any  longer 
and  was  in  a  hurry  to  get  back  where  the  other  chiefs 
were. 

Just  before  leaving  the  Indians,  Captain  Mix 
asked  Lee  if  he  had  any  salt  in  the  camp;  that  they 
were  out  of  rations  except  the  fresh  game  they  could 
kill,  but  had  no  salt  to  go  with  it.  Lee  said  he  did 
not  know,  and  if  he  had  any,  he  would  send  a  war- 
rior to  our  camp  with  it.  Two  Strike  asked  how  a 
warrior  could  get  into  our  camp  at  night.  Captain 
Mix  was  off  his  guard  and  said,  "I  will  give  the 
guards  orders  not  to  fire  at  any  one  approaching." 
Two  Strike  did  not  say  any  more,  and  we  scouts 
thought  his  question  was  extraordinary,  since  he  had 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  163 

taken  no  interest  in  the  council,  and  after  talking  it 
over,  we  decided  he  meant  mischief. 

When  we  had  arranged  camp  for  the  night,  we 
told  Captain  Mix  our  opinion  of  Two  Strike's  ques- 
tion and  actions,  and  warned  him  to  look  out.  He 
did  not  seem  to  be  very  serious  concerning  it,  and 
said,  "There  is  nothing  to  fear,  boys;  we  made  a 
treaty  with  the  Indians  and  they  will  not  break  it." 
We  had  our  doubts  about  it,  and  decided  to  take  no 
risks;  accordingly  we  told  the  captain  our  plans  and 
left  the  camp. 

We  scouts  went  to  an  island  in  the  Republican 
river,  and  stayed  for  the  night.  We  were  so  situ- 
ated that  we  could  see  the  Indian  village  and  also 
the  camp  of  the  soldiers,  and  if  an  attack  was  made 
we  could  easily  escape.  Had  we  remained  in  the 
camp  and  been  attacked,  we  would  all  have  been 
massacred,  for  the  Indians  were  ten  to  our  one. 

As  the  night  was  darkening  and  the  camp  fires 
were  burning  low  and  all  the  Indians  were  asleep  and 
not  a  soimd  came  from  the  soldiers'  camp,  Two  Strike 
quietly  crawled  from  his  lodge  and  awoke  his  five 
hundred  young  warriors.     They  soon  laid  their  plot 


164  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


and  were  on  their  horses  ready  to  start  for  the  sol- 
diers, who  were  unsuspecting  any  danger.  An  old 
warrior  was  disturbed  from  his  slumbers  and  upon 
peeping  from  his  tepee,  he  saw  the  act  of  treachery. 
He  hurried  to  Spotted  Tail  and  pointed  towards  the 
mounted  warriors.  The  old  chief  grabbed  his  revolver 
and  started  for  Two  Strike;  he  placed  the  revolver 
against  the  young  chief's  breast  and  ordered  him  to 
call  back  his  3-oung  warriors,  and  said,  "We  made  a 
treaty  with  those  soldiers  and  don't  you  dare  to  break 
it;  if  you  do  I  will  kill  you." 

Very  much  disappointed  over  failing  in  his  ob- 
ject. Two  Strike  did  as  bidden. 

At  break  of  day  the  next  morning,  we  were  on 
our  way  toward  Fort  Sedgwick.  The  trip  back  was 
one  never  to  be  forgotten.  We  left  the  fort  with 
only  four  days'  rations,  and  were  out  sixteen  days. 
The  last  eight  days  we  had  only  raw  buffalo  meat 
without  salt. 

The  weather  was  stormy  and  so  cold  that  twenty 
of  the  men  had  their  hands  and  feet  frozen.  We 
were  in  a  wild  country,  no  settlers  for  hundreds  of 
miles  around  us,  so  to  avoid  getting  lost  we  carried 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  165 


the  compass  in  our  hands  all  the  time  to  keep  a  con- 
tinual watch  of  the  directions;  when  one  man's  hands 
were  cold  he  would  pass  the  compass  on  to  another 
one. 

After  several  days  of  such  trying  circumstances, 
the  soldiers  were  beginning  to  get  uneasy;  it  was  the 
first  time  most  of  them  ever  had  such  trying  experi- 
ences.   We  scouts  had  been  used  to  many  hardships 
and  dangers,  so  did  not  mind  it  so  much;  but  it  took 
all  of  our  ners-e  and  good  spirits  to  cheer  up  the  dis- 
couraged soldiers.     Captain  Mix  worried  over  the 
hopeless  situation,  and  the  burden  of  the  responsibil- 
ity for  the  safety  of  his  men  so  weighed  on  his  mind 
that  he  became  mentally  deranged.    The  captain  was 
sure  they  were  going  the  wrong  way,  and  finally  the 
scouts  had  to  threaten  to  leave  him  before  he  would 
listen  to  reason.    After  much  persuasion  he  consented 
to  fully  rely  on  the  scouts  guiding  them  back  into 
civilization.     Near  the  last  few  days  the  captain 
came  to  himself  and  asked  me  where  we  expected  to 
come  in  on  the  Platte  river.     I  told  him  at  Bovay's 
ranch.  He  bet  me  all  we  could  eat,  cigars  and  drinks, 
as  soon  as  we  found  any  settlers,  that  we  would  strike 


l66  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

the  river  at  Ofellow's  point,  a  distance  of  sixty  miles 
below  Bovay's.  I  said,  "Boys,  what  shall  we  do 
about  it^"  They  said,  "Take  up  the  bet,  and  if  you 
lose  we  will  help  you  out."    So  I  took  the  bet. 

A  few  days  after  this  we  came  onto  a  little  bluff 
and  saw  a  silver-like  thread  winding  over  the  prairie 
in  the  distance  and  knew  we  were  nearing  the  Platte 
and  all  began  to  pick  up  courage  and  get  in  good 
spirits.  We  traveled  a  little  farther,  then  I  dis- 
mounted and  got  my  field-glasses  out  of  my  saddle- 
bags and  looked  over  the  country.  I  distinguished  a 
farm  about  four  or  five  miles  ahead  of  us.  I  called 
the  other  scouts  and  when  they  looked  at  it,  we  de- 
cided it  was  Bovay's.  We  waited  for  Captain  Mix 
to  come  up,  and  as  he  studied  the  surrounding  coun- 
try, he  finally  agreed  with  us.  It  is  needless  to  say 
that  we  covered  that  few  miles  in  a  hurry,  and  the 
captain  stayed  good  by  his  bet,  and  we  half-starved 
creatures  sure  enjoyed  that  first  night  back  in  civil- 
ization. Two  or  three  weeks  later  Billy  Lee  came 
to  the  fort  and  told  us  what  a  narrow  escape  the  sol- 
diers had  that  night  they  camped  near  Spotted  Tail's 
village. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

TWO   FACE, 

By  IV.  S.  Coburn. 

After  his  raid  down  the  Platte,  where  he  burned 
so  many  farm  houses  and  hay  stacks,  when  he  took 
Mrs.  Morris  captive  and  got  so  good  a  price  for  her 
ransom,  Two  Face  decided  that  there  was  good 
money  in  stealing  and  selling  white  women;  so  he 
took  it  up  as  a  profession. 

He  went  over  on  the  Blue  river  and  captured 
Mrs.  Ewbanks  and  Miss  Roper.  After  he  had  them 
three  or  four  months,  and  mistreated  and  abused 
them  as  the  Indians  usually  did  their  captives.  Two 
Face  took  them  to  one  of  the  southern  forts,  supposed 
to  be  Fort  Lyons,  and  traded  them  for  provisions  and 
received  a  good  exchange  in  the  trade. 

He  immediately  started  to  look  for  another  bar- 
gain. 

This  Indian  dealt  in  women  like  he  did  in  ponies. 
He  would  always  look  for  the  finest  appearing  ones 
and  put  up  the  price  according  to  the  beauty  and 
style  of  his  captive. 


l68  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

The  next  victim  of  Two  Face  was  a  Miss  Ben- 
nett. He  was  SO  sure  of  an  unusually  good  price  for 
her,  that  he  did  not  lose  much  time  in  getting  to  a 
fort.  The  officers  gave  him  a  deal  that  enabled  him 
to  retire  from  business. 

By  this  time  Two  Face's  reputation  as  a  "dealer 
in  women"  was  spread  all  over  the  western  country, 
and  every  scout,  officer  and  soldier  was  on  the  look- 
out to  close  a  final  deal  with  him. 

In  the  spring  of  1 866,  Two  Face  took  Miss  Ben- 
nett within  a  mile  of  Fort  Laramie,  Wyoming,  and 
hid  her  in  some  willows  and  placed  three  Indian 
guards  to  watch  her,  while  he  went  to  the  fort  and 
made  terms  for  the  sale. 

Colonel  Moonlight,  who  was  in  charge  of  the 
fort,  asked  him  what  he  wanted  in  exchange  for  his 
captive.  Two  Face  demanded  three  thousand  pounds 
of  bacon,  the  same  of  flour,  large  quantities  of  sugar 
and  coffee,  and  twenty  beef  steers. 

The  colonel  studied  awhile  before  replying,  "I 
am  not  sure  whether  we  can  spare  all  that  or  not,  but 
I  will  send  a  sergeant  to  investigate  the  commissary 
and  see  how  much  we  have.    He  sent  for  a  sergeant 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  169 


and  in  the  meantime  he  asked  Two  Face,  "How  far 
is  your  captive  and  how  long  will  it  take  to  get  her 
here?" 

The  Indian  said,  "One  mile,  in  willows;  three 
guards,"  and  he  unconsciously  threw  out  his  arm  in 
the  direction.  The  keen  colonel  noticed  the  move. 
By  this  time  the  sergeant  came  in  and  Moonlight 
gave  him  the  note  to  take  to  the  captain.  In  a  few 
moments  he  returned  with  an  answer.  The  colonel, 
after  reading  it,  turned  to  Two  Face.  "I  am  ver}^ 
sorry,  but  we  cannot  trade  for  your  captive ;  our  sup- 
plies are  too  low."  The  Indian  was  greatly  disap- 
pointed over  this  turn  of  affairs.  He  had  so  planned 
on  a  good  price  for  Miss  Bennett.  He  had  begun  to 
think  that  the  officers  would  ransom  a  white  woman, 
no  matter  what  the  cost  was,  and  this  was  a  blow  to 
him,  for  he  thought  his  business  was  growing  more 
prosperous  on  every  deal,  so  this  failure  caused  an 
enraged  and  revengeful  Indian  to  leave  the  fort  and 
return  to  his  captive,  who  would  also  feel  the  disap- 
pointment of  the  deal  and  more  than  likely  suffer 
more  at  the  hands  of  the  Indian  on  account  of  it. 


lyO  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

In  the  meantime  the  captain  was  carrying  out  the 
orders  in  the  colonel's  note,  which  were,  "Two  Face 
has  a  woman  captive  near,  about  a  mile  in  the  south- 
west; take  a  few  men,  go  find  her  and  bring  the  three 
guards  into  the  fort.  If  you  should  meet  Two  Face 
on  the  road,  bring  him  back." 

Shortly  after  Two  Face  left  the  fort,  the  captain 
returned  with  Miss  Bennett  and  the  "dealer  in 
women." 

The  colonel  asked  the  captain  where  the  three 
Indian  guards  were,  and  the  captain  said,  "I  suppose 
they  got  away;  anyhow,  they  are  goners,"  and  he 
said  it  in  such  a  way  that  the  colonel  could  easily 
guess  why  they  were  goners. 

They  attached  a  chain  and  ball  to  Two  Face  and 
placed  him  in  the  guard  house,  where  he  was  con- 
fined until  instructions  could  be  got  from  Washing- 
ton. Colonel  Moonlight  sent  the  record  of  Two  Face 
into  headquarters  at  Washington  and  asked  for  in- 
structions what  to  do  with  him. 

All  messages  were  carried  over  the  overland  stage 
coaches,  which  were  owned  by  Ben  Holiday  at  that 
time.     On  account  of  this  slow  way  of  conveyance, 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  I7I 

it  was  about  three  months  before  the  answer  got  back 
from  Washington. 

Colonel  Moonlight  was  noted  for  his  love  of 
liquor,  and  it  so  happened  that  he  had  a  few  drinks 
too  many,  when  the  instructions  from  Washington 
arrived.    The  dispatch  was: 

"Colonel  Moonlight,  Fort  Laramie,  Wyoming: 
You  will  proceed  at  once  to  hang  the  Indian  Chief 
Two  Face,  in  his  chains." 

But  the  colonel's  eyes  were  a  little  crooked  from 
the  effects  of  too  much  booze,  and  he  read  it,  "Hang 
the  Indian  chief  Two  Face  with  his  chains."  Upon 
reading  it,  the  colonel  said,  "All  rite,  I  do  dat  rite 
avay." 

He  went  back  to  the  guard-house  and  told  Two 
Face  he  was  going  to  set  him  free.  The  old  chief 
was  greatly  pleased  and  jumped  up  with  his  pipe  of 
peace.  The  colonel  said,  "You  no  understand;  I 
send  you  to  happy  hunting  grounds."  This  changed 
the  Indian's  countenance. 

Colonel  Moonlight  ordered  three  wagons  to  be 
brought  out  in  an  open  lot  and  the  tongues  raised  up 
and  all  fastened  together,  forming  a  tripod.   He  then 


1^72  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

took  Two  Face  out  and  threw  one  end  of  a  log  chain 
over  the  tongues  and  hooked  the  other  end  around  his 
neck;  then  kicked  the  box  from  under  the  Indian. 
They  let  the  body  of  the  Indian  hang  under  the  tri- 
pod formed  by  the  wagon  tongues  three  days. 

This  ended  Two  Face's  dealing  in  the  woman 
traffic. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


STANDING   ELK. 


The  government  was  trying  t(3  arrange  a  treaty 
with  the  Indians  in  the  northern  part,  around  Fort 
Laramie,  as  it  did  not  want  to  fight  with  them. 

Watson  Coburn,  a  Mark  Code  and  several  other 
ranchmen  had  a  number  of  horses  stolen.  Coburn 
and  Code  went  after  them  and  found  a  large  bunch 
of  horses,  and  counted  seventy-four  that  had  their 
brand  on  them. 

They  went  to  the  officers  at  the  fort  and  asked 
them  to  help  recapture  the  horses.  The  officers  re- 
fused to  do  so,  saying  that  an  attempt  to  get  the 
horses  would  interfere  in  making  the  treaty;  but 
Coburn  and  Code  could  put  in  their  claim  to  the 
government  for  the  amount  at  which  the  horses  were 
valued. 

In  April,  1866,  the  government  succeeded  in 
making  the  treaty.  A  slip  of  paper,  with  the  In- 
dian's name  on  it,  stating  that  he  belonged  to  the 
band  that  had  made  the  treaty,  and  no  white  man 


174  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

should  molest  him,  was  given  to  every  Indian  who 
made  the  treaty. 

As  soon  as  the  treaty  was  made,  the  Indians 
divided  into  small  bands  and  scattered  all  over  the 
country.  Some  had  not  gone  twenty-five  miles  from 
the  fort  until  they  made  fun  of  the  treaty  and  started 
in  on  their  depredations. 

A  band  of  eight  hundred  crossed  the  river  near 
Watson  Coburn's  ranch.  He  did  not  know  for  cer- 
tain if  the  treaty  had  been  made,  so  as  soon  as  he 
saw  them  approaching,  he  threw  the  sand  bags  in  the 
gate  to  close  up  the  entrance  and  got  his  hired  men 
in  readiness  for  defense,  should  it  be  necessary. 

The  fence  around  Mr.  Coburn's  buildings  was  of 
sod  and  stood  eight  feet  high  and  was  two  feet  thick. 
He  had  several  port-holes  in  it;  these  were  two  or 
three  feet  square  in  the  inner  side  and  sloped  to 
about  four  inches  on  the  outer.  This  allowed  the 
men  behind  the  fence  to  be  able  to  range  their  rifles 
over  a  larger  territory  and  at  the  same  time  leaving 
the  outer  opening  too  small  for  the  enemy  to  shoot 
through  from  the  distance. 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  I75 

On  this  occasion,  just  as  he  had  everything  in 
readiness,  he  noticed  the  Indians  tying  white  rags  on 
the  end  of  their  arrows  and  holding  them  up  in  plain 
view  of  the  ranchmen.  Coburn  at  once  realized  that 
they  were  trying  to  show  the  flag  of  truce,  so  he  went 
out  to  meet  them.  They  exchanged  friendly  greeting 
with  him  and  asked  permission  to  make  their  camp 
near  his  place  for  a  few  days.  Coburn  said  they 
could,  and  also  get  water  from  the  stream  running 
through  his  place. 

The  Indians  soon  wanted  to  begin  to  swap  and 
trade  buffalo  robes  and  furs  for  coffee,  sugar  and 
other  supplies  that  Coburn  happened  to  have. 

Every  Indian  that  came  to  him  would  reach 
down  in  the  pocket  of  his  blanket  and  bring  out  a 
small  bundle  and  begin  to  unwrap  it.  The  process 
generally  took  about  ten  minutes.  After  they  had 
taken  off  several  feet  of  rawhide  string  and  some  old 
rags,  they  would  hand  out  the  paper  given  them  by 
the  officers.  The  Indians  prized  these  passes  very 
highly  and  were  proud  of  them,  which  was  the  cause 
of  such  care  being  given  them. 


1-6  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

After  a  few  hundred  of  the  Indians  had  shown 
Coburn  their  passes,  it  was  growing  tiresome  to  him, 
so  he  began  to  tell  them  that  he  could  not  read. 

He  noticed  an  extra  large  and  distinguished  look- 
ing Indian,  all  dressed  in  gay  colors  and  a  magnifi- 
cent head-piece  of  feathers,  accompanied  by  a  fine- 
looking  young  squaw,  who  had  two  hundred  and 
twelve  silver  dollars  sewed  to  her  blanket.  Coburn 
thought  they  must  be  important  members  of  the 
band  and  was  curious  about  them,  so  when  they 
offered  to  show  their  passes  he  was  able  to  read.  He 
discovered  that  his  distinguished  caller  was  Chief 
Standing  Elk,  the  head  chief  of  all  the  Cheyenne 
tribes,  and  his  daughter. 

Coburn  asked  the  chief  how  long  the  treaty  was 
to  last.  Standing  Elk  replied  by  signs,  "One  moon, 
grass  so  high,  so  long  time  (measuring  off  on  his  fin- 
ger) ;  me  get  heap  scalps,  heap  ponies."  He  meant 
that  in  about  time  for  a  new  moon  the  grass  would 
be  good  and  their  ponies  would  get  in  good  condition, 
then  he  would  be  ready  for  another  raid,  so  break  the 
treaty.  Close  observation  shows  that  most  of  the 
treaties  were  made  by  the  Indians  in  the  time  of  the 


THE   PIONEERS  OF   COLORADO  I77 


year  when  their  ponies  were  poor  and  weak  and  the 
Indians  were  not  prepared  for  fighting.  But  as  soon 
as  spring  opens  up  and  the  ponies  fatten  and  plenty 
of  wild  game  could  be  had,  so  they  need  not  depend 
on  their  stored  goods,  and  when  the  weather  is  warm 
so  they  can  rove  around  without  being  burdened 
with  blankets,  tepees,  etc.,  they  always  break  their 
treaties  and  start  on  their  depredations. 

The  uncivilized  inhabitants  of  the  western  plains 
were  shrewd  enough  when  it  came  to  looking  after 
rheir  own  interests. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

MASSACRE  AT  FORT  PHIL  KEARNEY. 

Colonel  Carrington  was  in  command  of  four  hun- 
dred men  at  Fort  Phil  Kearney,  where  they  were 
being  tantalized  by  the  Indians. 

Chief  Red  Cloud,  ranking  chief  of  the  war  coun- 
cil, sent  about  sixty  warriors  down  near  the  fort  to 
tantalize  the  soldiers  into  leaving  the  fort  and  start 
to  fighting. 

At  last  Colonel  Carrington  ordered  Captain  Fet- 
terman  and  his  company  of  ninety-two  men  to  go  out 
and  run  the  Indians  back  into  the  hills.    The  Indians 
kept  backing  up  toward  the  canon,  about  a  mile  from 
the  fort.    A  scout,  who  was  in  the  company,  thought 
the  Indians  had  some  plot  ahead,  and  tried  to  warn 
the  captain,  but  Fetterman  was  very  enthusiastic  and 
anxious  that  the  colonel's  orders  should  be  carried 
out.    The  scout  said  he  was  not  going  to  be  caught  in 
any  trap  and  went  back  to  the  fort.     The  soldiers 
followed  the  Indians  into  the  canon,  and,  as  if  by 
magic,  sixteen  hundred  warriors  sprang  up  all  around 
them,  and   in   no   time   they  were   all   scalped  and 


l8o  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


killed.  Colonel  Carrington  and  the  remaining  three 
hundred  men  staid  in  the  fort  and  heard  the  shots 
exchanged,  but  did  not  go  to  Fetterman's  relief. 

A  short  time  after  this,  Chief  Red  Cloud  came, 
under  a  flag  of  truce,  into  the  fort  and  told  Colonel 
Carrington  about  the  trap  and  fight  in  the  canon,  and 
said  if  the  colonel  had  sent  the  other  soldiers  out  they 
would  all  have  been  killed.  Undoubtedly  they  would 
have,  since  the  Indians  outnumbered  the  soldiers. 

Red  Cloud  also  told  of  the  bravery  of  the  little 
twelve-year-old  drummer  boy  in  Captain  Fetterman's 
company.  While  the  fight  was  going  on  and  men 
were  falling  all  around  him,  the  boy  stood  on  a  large 
rock  and  drummed  away  until  the  last  man  was 
killed. 

The  Indian  spoke  so  highly  of  the  boy  and  his 
courage  that  Carrington  asked  him  why  he  allowed 
the  boy  to  be  killed  if  he  so  admired  his  bravery  and 
courage.  Red  Cloud  answered  that  he  did  not  intend 
to  kill  the  boy,  and  as  soon  as  he  could  he  was  going 
to  save  him,  but  some  of  the  warriors  killed  him  just 
before  the  chief  reached  his  side  to  protect  him. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

MEXICAN   PETER  ARRAGO. 

As  told  by  11'.  S.  Coburn. 

A  train  of  wagons  was  making  its  way  to  Mon- 
tana, in  June,  1866,  and  one  night  they  camped  by 
my  place  and  put  two  Mexicans  on  night  guard. 
Late  in  the  night  one  of  the  Mexicans  mistook  the 
other  for  an  Indian  and  fired  at  him.  The  shot 
nearly  tore  his  arm  off  and  severely  lacerated  his 
chest.  The  commander  of  the  train  asked  me  to  take 
him  and  care  for  him  and  make  him  as  comfortable 
as  I  could  and  see  that  he  was  properly  buried,  for 
none  of  us  expected  to  see  him  recover. 

After  offering  to  pay  me  for  my  trouble,  the 
commander  went  on  his  way  to  Montana.  On  the 
second  day  I  had  the  wounded  Mexican,  I  thought 
he  might  recover,  so  sent  for  the  army  physician  at 
Lathrum;  he  would  not  come,  but  sent  a  lot  of  direc- 
tions for  me. 

Five  miles  below  m}'  place  was  the  Home  Sta- 
tion, run  by  Foster.     One  da}-,  six  months  previous 


l82  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

to  Arrago's  accident,  a  misunderstanding  arose  be- 
tween four  or  five  of  the  men,  more  so  between  the 
stage  driver  and  Chub  (the  only  name  we  knew  for 
him).  Chub  was  shot,  and  they  sent  for  me.  I 
went  down  and  did  all  I  could  for  him,  but  on  the 
second  night  he  died.  As  I  opened  the  door  to  go  in 
and  see  the  corpse,  a  large  cat  sprang  through  the 
door  and  onto  the  corpse.  He  was  just  beginning  to 
chew  it,  when  I  got  hold  of  him  and  threw  him  out. 
It  was  the  only  cat  in  the  country  for  a  hundred 
miles  around. 

Having  had  some  experience  in  caring  for  Chub, 
I  was  more  able  to  nurse  the  wounded  Mexican, 
Peter  Arrago. 

The  fourth  day  after  he  was  shot  another  train 
went  by  and  there  were  three  doctors  on  it,  who  had 
heard  of  the  accident,  and  stopped  to  see  Arrago. 
After  carefully  examining  his  wounds  and  holding  a 
consultation,  they  said  that  gangrene  had  set  in  and 
he  could  not  live  till  twelve  o'clock  that  night,  and 
for  us  to  have  a  grave  ready  so  we  could  bury  him 
immediately  after  death. 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  183 


I  got  out  some  tallow  dips  for  candles  and  took 
up  my  post  by  the  Mexican,  while  Jordan,  my  part- 
ner, went  to  bed.  About  eleven  o'clock  I  noticed 
Peter  slowly  failing  and  began  to  think  the  doctors' 
verdict  was  being  fulfilled.  Suddenly  something 
happened  that  made  me  quite  sure  of  it.  As  a  rule 
I  was  not  supersitious,  but  there  had  been  so  many 
strange  events  on  the  frontier  and  I  was  nearly  worn 
out  with  my  steady  watch,  night  and  day,  over  Peter, 
and  so  was  easily  startled,  especially  this  night,  when 
I  expected  every  breath  to  be  the  last. 

My  house  had  thick  side  walls  and  where  the  roof 
came  over  them,  it  left  an  opening.  Around  the 
ridge  poles  at  the  gable  end,  I  had  shelves  where  I 
kept  my  canned  goods.  A  little  before  midnight, 
when  I  thought  Peter  was  dying,  I  heard  a  noise  on 
the  shelf  over  the  head  of  the  bed,  and  looking  up,  I 
saw  the  cat  from  the  Home  Station  sprawled  out  and 
looking  down  as  though  ready  to  spring. 

I  was  determined  that  it  should  not  get  at  Peter 
like  it  did  Chub,  so  I  tied  it  up  in  a  gunnysack  and 
put  it  out  doors.  I  did  not  want  to  kill  a  neighbor's 
cat,  but  I  was  uneasy,  for  that  was  the  first  it  had 


184  TRUE   HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

ever  come  to  my  place.  Thinking  that  the  cat  knew 
by  natural  instinct  that  death  was  near,  I  was  more 
sure  than  ever  that  Peter  was  dying.  Arousing  Jor- 
dan, I  sent  him  out  to  dig  the  grave,  while  I  did  my 
best  to  ease  the  dying  Mexican.  Again  I  heard  the 
noise  on  the  shelves  and  discovered  the  cat  in  the 
same  place  and  position  as  before.  It  had  got  out 
of  the  sack,  crawled  in  between  the  wall  and  roof, 
walked  across  the  wall  above  the  bed  and  crouched 
down  right  above  Peter's  head.  This  time  I  nailed 
him  up  in  a  box  and  put  him  outside.  Jordan  fin- 
ished the  grave  and  went  back  to  bed.  I  remained 
by  the  Mexican,  expecting  to  have  to  call  Jordan  at 
any  time  to  help  me.  In  the  early  morning  Peter 
came  to  himself  again  and  asked  me  to  cut  his  arm 
off,  it  was  paining  him  so.  I  decided  that  I  could  not 
make  it  any  worse  and  would  do  as  he  wished.  I 
sent  to  the  physician  at  Lathrum  and  told  him,  since 
he  would  not  come  and  attend  the  wounded  Mexican, 
why  not  send  the  necessary  articles  and  medicine  to 
amputate  an  arm.  The  physician  made  up  his  mind 
to  come  when  he  thought  there  might  be  a  chance  to 
save  the  Mexican.    They  put  Peter  in  an  ambulance 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  185 

and  took  him  to  the  army  hospital  at  Lathrum. 

Six  months  later  Peter  came  back  to  my  place 
and  said  I  saved  his  life.  I  told  him  how  we  had 
given  him  up;  about  the  superstition  over  the  cat  and 
the  three  doctors'  advice,  ending  by  saying,  "Peter, 
there  is  a  grave  dug  out  there  for  you;  better  go  fill 
it  up." 

He  just  answered,  "Me  no  dig;  me  no  fill." 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

A   FEW   MINOR   EXPERIENCES. 

As  'Tohl  by  W.  S.  Coburn. 

In  the  fall  of  1865  I  took  eight  well-armed  men 
who  were  familiar  with  Indian  fighting,  with  me 
after  some  timber.  We  went  eighty  miles  up  the 
Lawrence  branch  of  the  North  Platte,  through  a  ver\- 
wild  country  and  inhabited  with  hostile  Indians. 
We  were  gone  sixteen  days  and  had  only  one  scrap 
with  the  Indians,  and  much  to  our  surprise,  we  all 
arrived  home  safe  and  sound. 

This  same  fall  I  put  up  two  hundred  tons  of  hay, 
and  all  the  time  we  were  working  at  the  hay,  we  were 
surrounded  by  the  dangers.  One  day  a  man,  who 
happened  to  be  in  the  field  alone,  was  shot  off  the 
machine  and  his  team  stolen  by  the  Indians.  After 
that  a  guard  was  sent  out  to  see  that  there  were  no 
Indians  secreted  in  the  field,  before  I  sent  the  men 
out  to  work. 

The  buffalo  and  antelope  were  so  numerous  over 
the  prairie,  that  a  herd  of  a  thousand  head  at  a  time 


l88  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


would  be  grazing  right  around  my  fields.  They  were 
killed  to  supply  the  government  stations  with  meat 
for  the  emigrants.  There  were  times  when  the  emi- 
grants were  not  prepared  to  hunt,  so  we  scouts  gen- 
erally did  the  hunting.  On  account  of  the  Indians 
always  sneaking  around  in  the  way,  it  was  necessary 
for  us  to  take  a  large  supply  of  cartridges  with  us. 
We  had  no  means  of  carrying  them  except  in  our 
pockets,  and  they  were  so  heavy  they  nearly  always 
kept  our  pockets  torn  down.  I  finally  grew  tired  of 
that  and  decided  to  study  out  a  new  way.  While  I 
was  studying,  I  carelessly  wrapped  a  string  around  a 
cartridge  and  noticed  that  it  held  the  cartridge  firm. 
It  dawned  on  me  that  I  could  fix  a  belt  that  way. 
After  I  figured  it  all  out,  I  went  to  the  harness  maker 
at  Fort  Sedgwick,  and  said,  "Mr.  Mitchell,  I  want 
you  to  do  a  job  for  me.  Take  a  strip  of  leather 
about  three  or  four  inches  wide  and  long  enough  for 
a  belt,  then  take  a  buckstring  about  half  inch  thick 
and  sew  in  loops  on  the  belt,  just  so  these  cartridges 
will  fit  in  them  snug,  and  not  lose  out."  I  paid  him 
two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  for  making  the  belt. 
When  I  wore  it  back  on  the  plains,  all  of  my  friends 


THE   PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  189 

greatly  admired  it  and  praised  it  very  highly.  Some 
advised  me  to  get  a  patent  on  it,  but  I  was  over  a 
hundred  miles  from  Denver,  and  four  hundred  from 
Omaha,  therefore  was  unable  to  go. 

Later  I  went  to  Fort  Sedgwick  and  asked  for  Mr. 
Mitchell.  I  wanted  to  tell  him  of  the  satisfaction 
of  my  belt,  in  the  general  opinion  of  nn-  friends  on 
the  plains.  But  I  was  told  he  had  invented  a  cart- 
ridge belt,  sold  the  patent  for  a  large  sum  of  money 
and  left  the  frontier,  leaving  me  the  satisfaction  of 
knowing  I  had  told  him  how  to  make  it.  while  he  got 
the  credit  and  money  for  the  belt. 

In  the  spring  and  summer  of  1867,  the  Indians 
again  got  so  bold  and  numerous  up  around  Greeley, 
that  freighters  refused  to  load  for  the  west.  Four  hun- 
dred miles  of  the  road  to  Denver  and  Greele}^  was 
cut  off  and  emigrants  and  freighters  dared  not  travel. 
What  freight  was  taken  west  was  raised  to  twenty 
cents  a  pound;  grain  was  twenty  and  twent}"-five 
cents  a  pound,  while  hay  was  very  high,  and  finally 
there  was  none  to  be  had. 

Gus  Hall,  who  was  injured  in  the  Americau 
ranch  fight  six  months  before,  came  back  to  ni}-  ranch 


igO  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

with  a  cork  leg  and  foot.  He  proposed  to  me  to  go 
in  with  him  and  get  some  cows  and  capture  some  buf- 
falo calves  and  raise  them.  We  got  ready  the  first 
to  the  tenth  of  May,  when  buffalo  calves  were  due. 
There  was  a  bunch  of  twelve  or  fifteen  hundred  buf- 
falo cows  near  my  place,  where  we  expected  to  get 
what  we  wanted  in  a  few  minutes.  On  the  tenth 
day  of  May,  we  started  out  with  a  pair  of  Mexican 
mules  and  a  spring  wagon  to  gather  the  calves.  The 
buffalo  shifted  around  so  that  we  missed  them  and 
we  kept  on  going,  thinking  they  had  sought  the  table 
land  above  my  place.  Just  before  making  the  rise 
onto  these  broad,  level  table  lands,  we  stopped,  and 
I  got  out  and  walked  on  ahead  of  the  team,  so  I  could 
see  the  country  and  locate  the  buffalo.  To  my  ut- 
most surprise  and  consternation,  instead  of  finding 
the  buffalo,  there  were  about  a  hundred  Indians 
about  a  mile  from  us,  coming  in  our  direction  on  the 
march,  as  if  moving.  I  did  not  know  if  they  had  seen 
me  or  not,  and  did  not  care  to  spend  any  time  to  find 
out,  but  knew  if  they  found  our  tracks  we  would  be 
doomed.  One  of  us  took  the  lines  and  the  other  the 
blacksnake  and  the  way  we  flew  down  through  those 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  I9I 


sandhills  was  a  caution.  When  about  half  way 
home  we  dashed  down  through  a  small  basin  and 
there  we  found  the  buffalo  cows  and  the  calves  were 
lying  thick  all  over  the  ground.  We  could  have 
loaded  up  in  just  a  few  minutes,  but  the  sight  of 
those  Indians  had  left  no  desire  for  anything  but  to 
get  to  a  place  of  safety.  After  that  we  were  cautious 
about  going  out  and  abandoned  the  project. 

We  were  out  hunting,  once  after  that,  and  again 
encountered  a  band  of  Indians,  but  being  well 
mounted,  made  our  escape.  I  told  Gus  that  he 
seemed  to  be  unlucky  and  I  should  decline  to  go  out 
with  him  any  more.  About  two  years  afterwards 
Gus  Hall  and  Bill  Comstock,  with  two  other  men, 
while  out  in  the  cedar  canon  for  wood,  were  all  killed 
and  scalped  by  the  Indians. 

The  Indians  believe  that  no  one  can  go  to  the 
happy  hunting  ground  bald-headed;  that  is  the  rea- 
son they  always  scalped  the  white  men,  for  they  did 
not  want  them  to  get  in  on  their  happy  hunting 
grounds.  They  would  always  try  to  save  their  dead 
before  the  settlers  could  scalp  them,  so  they  would  be 
sure  to  enter  their  heaven. 


192  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


On  June  3rd,  1867,  I  went  out  to  hunt  antelope, 
and  when  about  half  a  mile  from  the  house  and  in 
plain  sight  of  it,  I  was  surrounded  by  Indians.  They 
were  all  on  ponies  and  kept  circling  around  me.  The 
Indians  would  usually  surround  a  man  and  induce 
him  to  shoot  away  his  ammunition  the  first  thing, 
then  they  were  sure  to  get  him.  I  happened  to  know 
this,  so  was  saving  with  mine  and  intended  to  make 
every  shot  count.  It  was  nearly  an  hour  before  I 
got  a  good  aim  and  as  they  ran  past  me  I  killed  one 
of  their  horses.  The  Indians  had  seemed  to  think  I 
did  not  have  any  cartridges,  and  were  somewhat  sur- 
prised at  the  shot,  but  as  I  did  not  shoot  again  for 
nearl}^  an  hour,  they  began  to  think  that  I  did  not 
have  any  more,  and  got  reckless.  One  of  them  came 
up  behind  me  and  shot  an  arrow  that  just  buzzed 
[)ast  my  ear  and  stuck  in  the  ground  a  few  feet  ahead 
of  me.  The  Indian  then  whirled  his  horse,  and  just 
as  he  started  away,  I  tried  my  luck,  and  he  raised  up 
and  went  over  his  pony's  head  like  a  leap-frog.  I 
was  getting  reckless,  too,  for  I  thought  I  was  a  goner, 
and  was  going  to  see  how  many  I  could  send  on  ahead 
of  me.    My  attention  was  drawn  towards  the  Indian 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  I93 

I  had  shot,  and  I  noticed  that  he  was  not  dead,  so  I 
got  my  knife  and  started  for  him,  but  another  Indian 
saw  my  intention  and  threw  a  rope  on  the  wounded 
Indian  and  dragged  him  out  of  my  way.  The  Indian 
that  was  riding  the  horse  I  killed,  had  left  the  circle 
and  started  on  a  run  for  the  canon,  and  I  was  ex- 
pecting more  Indians  to  arrive  at  any  time.  The 
stage  coach  drove  up  to  my  place  and  stopped,  and 
the  passengers,  numbering  about  twenty,  were  all 
watching  my  fight.  But  I  did  not  have  time  to  won- 
der if  they  would  come  to  my  rescue,  or  to  look  it 
the  other  Indians  were  coming.  The  Indian,  in  drag- 
ging the  wounded  one  away,  caused  the  ring  to  be 
broken,  and  I  was  not  long  in  darting  out  of  it  and 
on  my  way  home  as  fast  as  my  legs  could  carry  me. 
expecting  at  every  step  to  be  struck  by  an  arrow. 
The  Indians  had  me  penned  in  about  two  hours  and 
a  half,  all  of  which  time  I  could  feel  my  hair  raising 
my  hat  up.  About  hve  minutes  after  I  reached  the 
house,  I  saw  the  Indian  runner  return  with  about 
forty-seven  more.  I  escaped  just  in  the  nick  of  time. 
The  passengers  on  the  coach  were  the  only  people 


194  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


near  and  they  were  poorly  armed,  so  would  have  had 
no  show  in  helping  me  against  iifty-eight  Indians. 

That  night  General  Custer,  with  three  hundred 
soldiers,  camped  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  me,  and 
the  next  morning  he  asked  me  if  there  were  any  In- 
dians in  my  neighborhood,  and  I  told  him  of  my  ex- 
perience the  day  before  and  thought  that  they  were 
camped  in  the  cedar  canon,  as  it  was  the  only  place 
near  that  they  could  get  both  wood  and  water.  I 
also  told  him  that  twenty  picked  men  could  clean  out 
the  bunch,  and  I  would  guide  them  to  the  canon, 
which  was  about  twenty-five  or  thirty  miles  from  my 
ranch.  He  then  told  me  that  he  was  not  out  fighting 
Indians,  but  to  make  treaties  with  them,  and  he  sup- 
posed the  band  in  the  canon  was  a  forerunner  of  a 
large  band  of  several  hundred  that  had  been  follow- 
ing him. 

One  of  his  soldiers  told  me  about  camping  one 
night  on  the  Republican  river.  A  band  of  Indians 
camped  near  and  refused  to  make  a  treaty.  They 
ordered  Custer  to  move  his  camp,  and  fired  a  few 
volleys  of  shot  among  the  soldiers,  so  Custer  had  to 
move.     A  great  many  of  his  soldiers  deserted  him; 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  195 


said  they  would  not  stand  and  be  targets  for  the  In- 
dians and  not  have  the  privilege  to  defend  them- 
selves. 

Custer  had  orders  not  to  shoot  at  the  Indians  and 
he  intended  to  obey  orders.  He  turned  back,  report- 
ed at  Fort  Sedgwick  and  went  on  into  Fort  Wallace. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

RED  BEAD,    ROBERTS  AND  THE   COMANCHES. 

Red  Bead,  a  chief,  was  at  Fort  Sedgwick,  under 
the  protection  of  the  officers  in  charge.  He  had  won 
the  entire  confidence  of  all  at  the  fort,  and  at  the 
same  time  had  secret  communications  with  the  hostile 

tribes. 

On  one  occasion  Lieutenant  Kidder  and  ten  sol- 
diers were  sent  out  to  intercept  General  Custer  on  his 
route  and  deliver  some  orders.     Red  Bead  said  he 
knew  the  way  and  asked  to  go  as  their  guide.     The 
officers  consented.    Some  time  afterwards  the  bodies 
of  the  Lieutenant  and  his  ten  men  were  found  near 
Custer's  route.    Six  months  later  Red  Bead  returned 
to  the  fort  and  told  quite  a  tale,  how  they  were  sur- 
prised by  the  Indians  and  the  white  men  killed,  while 
he  was  taken  captive  and  was  treated  terribly  by 
his  captors,  until  he  managed  to  escape  and  get  back 
to  the  fort.     The  officers  took  him  in.  under  their 
protection  and  into  their  confidence,  just  as  they  had 
done  before. 


198  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

One  day  he  asked  an  officer,  that  if  any  of  his 
ponies  were  stolen,  what  would  they  do  about  it. 
The  officer  told  him  the  government  would  pay  him 
for  the  ponies  if  they  were  stolen,  while  he  was  un- 
der their  protection.  About  three  days  later  twenty- 
nine  head  of  the  Indian  ponies  disappeared.  John 
Freal  and  Watson  Coburn  happened  to  be  out  scout- 
ing and  saw  a  bunch  of  twenty-nine  horses  and  nine 
Indians  coming  their  way.  They  hid  until  the  horses 
got  close,  then  they  jumped  up  and  began  yelling 
and  shooting,  causing  a  stampede.  The  Indians, 
thinking  they  had  run  into  a  bunch  of  scouts,  kept 
going  just  as  fast  as  they  could,  while  the  two  scouts 
captured  three  of  the  horses  and  had  a  good  laugh  at 
the  Indians.  They  ran  the  horses  down  to  Coburn's 
ranch  for  safe  keeping.  The  officers  heard  about  it 
and  sent  a  lieutenant  and  an  escort  after  them.  Co- 
burn  bluffed  them  out  and  they  went  back  without 
the  ponies.  But  Red  Bead  was  paid  for  the  ponies, 
that  his  own  band  stole  for  him. 

The  Comanches  were  considered  about  the  hard- 
est fighters  among  the  Indians,  but  as  a  usual  thing 
they  confined  nearly  all   of  their  depredations  to 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  I99 

Stealing  stock,  only  occasionally  killing  and  scalping 
the  settlers. 

The  ranchers  were  far  apart  and  had  to  be  almost 
self-supporting.  When  one  was  raided  the  others 
were  notified  and  they  would  gather  and  follow  the 
raiders.  The  following  incident  was  told  by  C.  F. 
Roberts,  who  was  an  early  settler  in  Texas,  and  had 
many  trying  experiences  with  the  Comanches. 

This  particular  time  seven  Indians  had  stolen  a 
number  of  head  of  stock  and  started  toward  the  west. 
The  owner  sent  out  messages  to  the  other  settlers  to 
meet  at  a  certain  elevation  and  they  would  combine 
and  go  after  them.  They  began  to  meet,  fifteen  and 
twenty  at  a  time,  and  when  they  had  a  large  enough 
number  they  started  in  pursuit  of  the  Indians. 

They  overtook  the  Indians  and  recaptured  the 
stock  and  cornered  the  Indians  in  a  hole  in  a  wash- 
out. The  men  didn't  dare  go  to  the  edge  of  the  hole 
and  look  in,  for  the  Indians  could  get  a  good  shot  at 
them.  The  men  would  go  back  and  hold  council 
and  decide  to  storm  the  hole,  but  they  all  knew  if 
they  did  some  would  be  sure  to  get  killed,  so  they 
would   back  out.     Thev  counciled,   and   started   a 


200  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

charge  several  times,  and  every  time  would  back  out. 
For  some  time  they  had  not  heard  any  noise  in  the 
hole  and  had  almost  concluded  that  the  Indians  had 
found  some  way  out,  without  the  men  seeing  them, 
but  none  of  them  would  risk  taking  a  peep  to  be  sure 
about  it.  About  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when 
they  were  getting  uneasy  and  wondering  what  to  do, 
they  saw  a  large  dark  cloud  coming  over  the  western 
horizon.  In  a  few  minutes  it  began  to  rain;  then 
suddenly  the  water  rushed  in  a  torrent  down  the 
washout.  There  had  been  a  cloudburst  above  them. 
When  they  were  able  to  reach  the  hole,  they  dragged 
out  seven  drowned  Indians.  One  of  them  was  a 
squaw,  who  had  taken  a  warrior's  place. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

FIGHT    WITH    EAGLE   CLAW. 
By  ff.  S.  CohUTTl. 

On  the  north  side  of  the  Platte  river  there  was  a 
distance  of  three  hundred  miles  where  there  were  no 
roads  or  settlements.  There  was  plenty  of  good 
grass  on  the  north  side,  owing  to  there  being  no 
travel,  and  for  that  reason  Arthur  Lewis  went  down 
the  north  side  and  camped,  June  3,  1867,  across 
from  the  Spring  Hill  ranch,  twelve  miles  below  Mr. 
Cobum's  ranch.  Mr.  Coburn  tells  the  following 
story  about  their  fight  with  Chief  Eagle  Claw: 

One  of  our  cows  had  run  away,  and  I  went 
down  to  the  Spring  Hill  ranch  after  it.  I  stayed  for 
dinner,  then  immediately  afterwards  started  home. 
I  had  gone  about  three  miles  when  I  rode  over  a 
ridge,  and  looking  across  the  river,  I  saw  nine  horse- 
men riding  towards  Lewis'  wagon  and  oxen.  I  rode 
back  to  the  ranch  and  asked  Mr  Freal:  "Are  there 
any  soldiers  out  from  the  fort^"  He  said  he  did  not 
know  of  an)-.     1  got  my  glasses  and  looked  at  the 


202  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

horsemen  and  discovered  that  they  were  Indians, 
coming  down  from  the  bluffs  toward  the  wagons, 
and  we  realized  at  once  there  was  going  to  be  an  at- 
tack. Arthur  Lewis  had  left  the  wagon  and  was 
somewhere  around  the  ranch.  I  found  him  and 
showed  the  Indians  to  him  and  asked  if  there  was 
any  one  with  the  wagons.  He  said,  "Yes,  I  left  a 
young  fellow,  George  Teal,  over  there." 

"Did  you  leave  any  guns  or  ammunition  in  the 
wagon?"  I  asked  him. 

"Yes,  seven  guns  and  plenty  of  ammunition." 

There  were  eight  men  and  myself  at  the  ranch, 
and  I  suggested  that  we  take  the  boat  and  cross  over 
to  Teal's  assistance.  The  others  all  hesitated,  and 
then  began  to  make  excuses.  They  couldn't  all  leave 
the  ranch,  and  some  couldn't  swim,  in  case  the  boat 
should  tip  over,  were  some  of  their  excuses. 

By  this  time  I  was  getting  vexed  with  them  and 
said,  "I  believe  you  fellows  are  all  cowards  and 
afraid  to  go.  I  know  it  is  a  risky  business  and  all 
that,  but  we  can't  stand  here  and  watch  the  Indians 
get  that  man  without  us  taking  a  chance  to  help  him. 
I  am  going;  is  anyone  coming  with  me?" 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  203 

Tom  Fought,  who  used  to  work  for  me  and  was 
in  several  hard  fights  with  me,  and  Henry  Freal 
spoke  up,  "Take  the  lead,  Coburn;  we  will  follow 
you." 

The  river  was  high  and  running  swift,  so  we 
towed  the  boat  up  stream  quit  a  distance,  that  we 
might  be  able  to  land  on  the  opposite  bank  with  the 
wagon  between  us  and  the  Indians.  Tom  rowed  the 
boat,  Henry  steered  it,  and  I  sat  with  my  rifle  ready 
in  case  it  would  be  necessary  to  use  it. 

In  the  meantime,  Teal  had  seen  the  Indians  ap- 
proaching and  got  in  the  covered  wagon,  tied  the 
canvass  sheets  together  at  both  ends,  loaded  up  his 
seven  guns  and  waited  for  them.  When  they  began 
to  fire  at  the  wagons.  Teal  just  peppered  it  back  into 
them.  The  Indians,  seeing  that  they  had  a  harder 
proposition  than  they  expected,  sent  a  runner  back 
to  their  camp  for  more  warriors. 

The  current  was  so  swift,  it  was  taking  us  below 
the  wagon,  and  before  long  the  Indians  caught  sight 
of  us  and  left  the  wagon  and  ran  down  the  bank, 
waiting  for  us  to  get  in  rifle  range,  then  fire  into  us. 
When  we  were  nearing  the  bank,  I  saw  an  Indian 


204  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


with  a  rifle,  that  looked  about  nine  feet  long  to  me 
just  then,  and  he  was  leveling  it  in  our  direction,  so 
I  told  the  boys  to  drop  flat  in  the  boat,  and  just  as 
I  started  to  drop,  crack  I  went  that  rifle,  and  the  bul- 
let grazed  across  my  temple.  I  dropped  into  the 
river.  I  was  stunned  several  minutes  and  when  I 
gradually  came  to  myself,  I  was  standing  in  water 
waist  deep  and  holding  onto  my  rifle,  which  was  also 
standing  in  the  water.  I  looked  around  and  saw  the 
boat  drifting  down  stream,  and  as  I  was  collecting 
my  thoughts  as  to  how  I  got  there,  the  accident  came 
to  my  mind  and  I  said  to  myself,  "Well,  you  have 
been  shot,  but  where'?"  and  while  looking  for  the 
bullet  hole,  I  happened  to  look  up  and  saw  an  In- 
dian hiding  behind  a  rock,  loading  a  gun.  I  thought, 
"Old  fellow,  I'll  just  beat  you  to  it."  I  took  my 
gun  out  of  the  river,  poured  the  water  out  of  it  and 
had  it  ready,  so  just  as  I  saw  the  Indian  edge  around 
the  rock  and  that  nine-foot  gun  aimed  at  me,  I  fired. 
The  Indian  turned  a  somersault  and  limped  away. 
The  boys  in  the  boat  looked  around  and  I  motioned 
them  to  pull  ashore.  One  of  them  landed  and  the 
other  came  back  after  me.     We  then  got  under  the 


THE   PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  20; 


bank  and  taking  the  boat  with  us,  started  toward  the 
wagon.  As  the  Indians  saw  they  could  not  get  to  us 
while  we  were  under  the  bank,  they  hurried  back  to 
the  wagon,  intending  to  get  Teal  and  raid  the  wagon 
before  we  got  there.  By  this  time  fourteen  more  In- 
dians had  come  down  from  their  ca\np,  and  a  runner 
had  been  sent  for  still  more,  so  their  number  was  in- 
creased to  fifty-eight,  while  there  were  only  four 

of  us. 

Teal  could  not  imagine  what  the  commotion  was 
outside,  as  he  could  not  see  out,  and  never  once 
thought  that  it  was  some  one  coming  to  his  aid,  since 
he  knew  there  was  no  white  man  for  a  hundred  miles 
on  that  side  of  the  river,  and  he  did  not  think  any 
one  would  dare  to  cross  the  river  when  it  was  so  high, 
and  a  mob  of  Indians  waiting  for  them  to  land. 
When  he  heard  the  Indians  returning  to  the  wagon 
he  peeped  out  and  saw  us  back  of  him  near  the  bank. 
He  jumped  from  his  hiding  place  and  joined  us. 
We  had  got  there  just  in  time,  for  he  had  only  three 
cartridges  left,  and  in  another  five  minutes  the  In- 
dians would  have  had  him. 


2o6  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

We  kept  up  a  pitched  fight  for  quite  a  while, 
when  it  died  down  a  little  and  we  had  time  to  look 
around,  we  noticed  one  Indian  with  the  long  rifle, 
making  his  wa)^  to  the  bank.     He  was  out  of  rifle 
reach,  so  all  we  could  do  was  to  keep  watch  on  him. 
I  surmised  that  his  intention  was  to  get  under  the 
bank,  crawl  up  and  let  our  boat  down  stream  and 
leave  us  without  any  means  of  getting  back  to  the 
ranch,  then  while  the  others  held  our  attention  in 
front,  he  would  pick  us  off  one  at  a  time.     While 
we  were  watching  the  Indian  and  talking  about  his 
intentions  the  other  Indians  had  fallen  back  to  coun- 
cil.   Suddenly  they  charged  down  on  us,  yelling  and 
shooting.     For  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  they  took  our 
entire  attention  and  when  we  had  a  chance  to  look 
for  the  Indian  whom  we  had  seen  making  his  way  to 
the  river,  he  had  disappeared.     About  two  hundred 
yards  below  us  was  a  sharp  bend  in  the  bank.     I 
thought  he  might  be  hiding  back  of  that  until  the 
others  could  make  another  charge,  then  he  could  get 
up  back  of  us.     I  said,  "Boys,  watch  in  the  grass 
below  here  for  him  and  keep  an  eye  on  the  others; 
I  am  going  to  get  under  the  bank,  take  my  chances 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  207 

and  meet  that  Indian  at  the  turn  and  see  if  I  can't 
head  him  off." 

I  managed  to  drop  over  the  bank  unseen,  and 
crawled  to  the  turn.  I  then  stopped  to  load  my  gun, 
and  crouched  down,  ready  to  spring,  but  he  did  not 
come,  and  as  I  did  not  want  to  waste  any  time,  I 
leaped  around  the  turn,  thinking  that  I  would  take 
him  at  a  disadvantage  and  get  the  drop  on  him.  But 
he  wasn't  there.  I  cautiously  peeped  up  over  the 
bank  and  saw  a  black  head  raised  up  out  of  a  buffalo 
wallow  (a  place  where  the  buffalo  have  pawed  out  a 
hole  to  catch  rain  water  in)  a  short  distance  away. 
Before  I  could  shoot,  it  dropped  out  of  sight.  Again 
it  raised  up  and  took  a  glance  toward  the  wagon,  as 
though  measuring  the  distance,  then  dropped  down 
in  the  grass.  I  leveled  my  rifle  over  the  bank  and 
waited.  Suddenly  he  sprang  out  of  the  wallow  with 
his  gun  to  his  shoulder,  aimed  at  one  of  the  boys 
back  of  the  wagon,  who  was  unaware  of  his  danger 
and  busy  watching  the  Indians  in  front.  By  the 
time  the  Indian  was  on  his  feet,  I  fired  and  he  fell. 
To  be  sure  that  he  was  dead,  I  leaped  up  the  bank 
with  knife  in  mv  hand,  and  started  for  him.    At  the 


2o8  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


same  time  Tom  came  running  from  the  wagon  and 
said,  "That  is  ni)^  Indian."  We  looked  for  the  bul- 
lets and  mine  struck  hiin  square  and  went  clear 
through,  while  Tom's  hit  him  on  the  left  wrist  just 
where  it  was  bent  in  holding  the  barrel  of  the  rifle, 
and  as  the  Indian  was  turned  sideways  toward  Tom, 
the  bullet  went  on  into  the  left  side  of  his  chest  and 
lodged  against  the  skin  on  the  right  shoulder.  The 
boys  had  followed  my  advice,  and  Tom  watched  in 
the  grass,  while  George  and  Henry  stood  off  those 
in  front. 

The  Indian  we  killed  was  Eagle  Claw,  and  when 
the  others  saw  that  their  chief  was  dead,  refused  to 
light  any  more  and  went  to  their  camp.  The  Indian 
camp  was  about  a  half  mile  from  the  wagon  and  I 
watched  them  through  my  glasses,  and  saw  they  had 
three  dead  and  eight  wounded.  Fearing  they  might 
come  down  in  the  night  and  attack  again,  we  decided 
to  make  them  leave  entirely. 

George  Teal  and  Henry  Freal  remained  at  the 
wagon,  so  if  the  Indians  should  surround  us  they 
could  break  the  ring.  Tom  Fought  and  I  went  to- 
ward the  camp  and  on  the  way  we  picked  up  two 


THE   PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  209 


buffalo  heads  and  took  them  with  us.  When  we  got 
within  rifle  range,  we  laid  down  in  a  wallow  and 
placed  the  heads  in  front  of  us  and  opened  fire  into 
the  camj).  The  Indians  would  not  return  the  shots, 
but  threw  their  dead  and  wounded  across  the  ponies 
and  left  camp  just  as  it  was.  We  got  all  the  buffalo 
robes,  blankets  and  trinkets  that  the  boat  would  hold. 
We  took  a  large  eagle  claw,  that  was  on  a  string  of 
beads,  from  around  the  chief's  neck,  two  five-cent 
pieces  that  were  fastened  in  his  ears  with  brass  rings 
and  a  large  brass  ring  out  of  his  nose.  He  had  a 
bag  on  a  string  around  his  neck  that  they  called  a 
medicine  bag,  and  believed  that  it  would  protect  him 
from  all  harm.  We  opened  the  bag  just  to  see  what 
was  in  it,  and  found  it  full  of  a  baby's  hair.  We 
loaded  the  boat  and  crossed  back  to  the  Spring  Hill 
ranch  just  at  sunset. 

The  stage  route  passed  the  ranch  and  on  this  day 
the  stage  was  going  by  as  we  were  fighting,  and 
stopped  for  four  hours  watching  us.  The  passen- 
gers not  being  used  to  such  sights,  were  awfully  ex- 
cited. Among  them  was  a  son  of  Jefferson  C.  Davis, 
and  he  wrote  back  to  his  father  a  description  of  the 


210  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

fight  and  termed  the  frontiersmen  as  barbarians  and 
called  the  Indians  those  poor  abused  people.  There 
was  good  excuse  for  him,  for  at  that  time  he  was 
what  we  called  a  tenderfoot,  and  if  he  stayed  out 
west  very  long  he  would  soon  learn.  But  his  lesson 
came  sooner  than  we  had  expected.  The  morning 
following  our  fight,  as  the  stage  was  going  on  to 
Moore's  place,  it  was  attacked  by  the  Indians  and  one 
of  the  leaders  of  the  six-horse  team  was  killed  and 
Davis'  son  was  shot  in  the  groin,  and  for  two  months 
we  did  not  expect  to  see  him  get  well.  The  Indians 
changed  his  mind  for  him  concerning  themselves,  and 
he  wrote  another  letter  to  his  father  about  the  cruel 
savages  and  the  brave  frontiersmen.  A  letter  en- 
tirely different  from  the  first. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

FIGHT  OF  GENERAL   FORSYTH. 

As  Told  by  A.  K.  Shaw. 

In  the  year  of  1868,  General  Forsyth,  assisted  by 
Lieutenant  Beecher  and  Scouts  Grover  and  McCall, 
had  charge  of  fifty-one  men  in  the  eastern  part  of 
Colorado.  They  were  certain  of  an  attack  and  had 
no  more  than  completed  their  preparations  for  a  de- 
fense than  young  Chief  Roman  Nose,  a  perfect  speci- 
men of  a  savage  leader,  being  six  feet  and  three 
inches  tall  and  sinewy  and  slim,  and  carrying  himself 
with  a  daring  and  reckless  movement,  led  his  band  of 
a  thousand  warriors  just  a  little  beyond  rifle  range  of 
the  soldiers.  Two  squads  of  these  were  placed  at 
each  end  of  the  island  and  kept  up  a  continual  cross- 
fire, so  that  the  soldiers  did  not  dare  to  raise  in  their 
rifle  pits  to  fire  at  the  oncoming  forces  that  were 
charging  down  on  them  from  in  front,  so  the  bullets 
were  falling  thick  all  around  the  soldiers.  Fortu- 
nately for  the  soldiers,  that  once  the  chargers  came 
within   range   of  the  bullets  of   their   men   on   the 


212  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


island,  they  would  have  to  cease  firing.  The  general 
noticed  this,  so  was  waiting  for  the  break  in  the  fir- 
ing. His  soldiers  had  turned  in  their  rifle  pits,  their 
rifles  to  their  shoulders  ready  to  spring  up  and  fire  as 
soon  as  the  order  was  given.  They  were  all  impa- 
tiently waiting. 

Before  a  great  while  the  cross-fire  ceased  and  the 
soldiers  had  their  chance.  General  Forsyth  said, 
"Now,"  and  Beecher,  McCall  and  Grover  repeated 
the  order.  The  soldiers  rose  as  one  man  and  sent 
seven  consecutive  volleys  into  the  charging  horde  of 
savages.  The  first  and  second  volleys  were  answered 
with  yells  from  the  savages,  as  they  continued  to- 
wards the  rifle  pits,  but  the  third  was  followed  by 
fewer  shouts  and  gaps  began  to  show  in  their  ranks. 
But  still  they  kept  bravely  pushing  on  to  the  sol- 
diers, Roman  Nose  leading  them  and  wildly  waving 
his  rifle  at  them  to  come  on,  and  shouting  his  defiant 
war  cry.  At  the  fourth  volley,  their  medicine  man, 
who  was  leading  one  of  their  columns,  went  down. 
This  checked  the  others  for  an  instant;  then  they 
rushed  on  with  renewed  energy  and  force.  The  fifth 
volley  thinned  their  ranks,  and  with  the  sixth,  Chief 


THE   PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  213 


Roman  Nose  and  his  horse  fell  together,  both  mor- 
tally wounded. 

A  few  feet  more  and  the  savages  would  be  upon 
the  soldiers,  but  the  column  hesitates  and  shows  signs 
of  weakness ;  the  soldiers  take  advantage  of  them  and 
poured  the  seventh  volley  into  their  ranks,  just  as 
some  of  the  warriors  had  reached  the  edge  of  the 
island.  Then,  with  ringing  cheers,  the  frontiersmen 
springing  quickly  to  their  feet,  poured  the  contents 
of  their  revolvers  into  the  very  faces  of  the  onrush- 
ing  mounted  warriors.  The  Indians,  completely 
cowered  and  defeated,  divided,  and  laying  low  over 
their  ponies,  hurried  to  get  out  of  reach  of  the  sol- 
diers' revolvers  and  to  a  place  of  safety. 

There  were  about  eight  soldiers  killed  and  twelve 
wounded.  General  Forsyth  was  wounded  three  times, 
but  dragged  himself  around  to  care  for  the  wounded 
soldiers.  Lieutenant  Beecher  was  shot  in  the  side, 
and  simply  said,  ''General,  I  have  got  my  death 
wound,"  then  murmured  something  about  "poor 
mother,"  and  died  as  bravely  and  unflinchingly  as  he 
had  fought. 


214  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

The  dead  horses  were  unsaddled  and  the  saddles 
used  to  strengthen  the  fortifications,  and  pieces  of 
the  horses  were  buried  to  keep  for  the  soldiers  to  sub- 
sist on.  The  meat  had  to  be  eaten  raw,  but  fortu- 
nately there  was  plenty  of  good  water.  The  sol- 
diers, being  nearly  exhausted,  slept  throughout  the 
night,  but  the  next  day  was  so  hot  that  the  wounded 
ones  suffered  intensely.  It  was  a  gloomy  day,  with- 
out food,  but  raw  horse  meat;  no  comfort  for  the 
wounded  and  no  hope  of  ever  getting  away;  and  in 
the  Indian  camp  near  by  the  squaws  were  beating 
drums  and  keeping  up  a  steady  death  chant. 

The  soldiers  dared  not  venture  from  behind  their 
fortifications,  for  they  would  have  no  chance  what- 
ever; the  Indians  were  waiting  for  them,  and  such  a 
few,  burdened  with  their  wounded  comrades,  could 
not  protect  themselves.  They  must  wait  and  let  fate 
take  its  course. 

General  Forsyth  had  sent  out  two  messengers  to 
carry  dispatches  to  the  ofBcers  at  Fort  Wallace,  tell- 
ing of  their  hopeless  condition  and  asking  for  help. 
But  the  messengers  were  unable  to  get  past  the  In- 
dian pickets,  so  returned.     The  day  after  the  fight 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  21^ 

he  sent  two  more,  with  full  particulars  of  the  fight, 
the  wounded,  and  their  trying  circumstances.  In  the 
meantime  the  soldiers  were  growing  weaker  and  more 
hopeless.  On  the  fourth  day  the  meat  had  become 
putrid,  but  one  of  the  soldiers  killed  a  w^olf,  which 
helped  them  to  hold  out  a  little  longer. 

Forsyth's  wound  was  getting  very  painful  and 
he  asked  the  soldiers  to  cut  the  bullet  out,  but  it  be- 
ing near  the  femoral  artery  they  were  afraid  to  un- 
dertake it,  so  the  general  took  his  razor  and  cut  it 
out  himself.  Later  his  leg  was  jarred  and  the  broken 
bone  protruded  through  the  flesh.  On  the  sixth  day 
Forsyth  called  the  well  soldiers  to  him  and  told  them 
to  try  and  save  themselves;  the  wounded  ones  would 
stay  and  take  their  chances,  they  were  about  done  for 
anyway.  There  was  silence  for  a  few  moments,  then 
the  men  said,  "Never!  Never!  We  will  stand  by 
you  till  the  end,  general."  And  McCall  said,  "We 
have  fought  together,  and,  by  heavens,  if  need  be, 
we  can  die  together." 

Thus  showing  the  faithfulness  and  self-sacrifice 
of  the  scouts  and  soldiers  on  the  frontier. 


2l6  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

The  next  two  days  seemed  to  be  almost  intermin- 
able, as  there  was  so  much  suffering  and  misery 
among  the  slowly  starving  and  dying  soldiers.  On 
the  morning  of  the  ninth  day,  one  of  the  soldiers 
jumped  up  and  said,  "There  are  some  objects  on  the 
hills  in  the  distance."  All  that  were  able  leaped  to 
their  feet  and  strained  their  eyes  to  see  what  it  was. 
Finally  a  scout  said,  "By  the  heavens  above  us,  it  is 
an  ambulance."  The  strain  was  over.  Thq  two  mes- 
sengers had  succeeded  in  meeting  Colonel  Carpenter 
with  the  Tenth  cavalry  and  he  hastened  to  their  res- 
cue. 

Though  the  fight  was  a  thousand  to  fifty-one,  the 
white  men  won  in  the  end,  in  spite  of  the  uneven 
numbers,  the  hardships  and  suffering  and  the  disad- 
vantages of  the  soldiers. 


CHIEF  "YELLO"WHAIR '• 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

A   TRIP   INTO    MONTANA. 

As  "Told  by  A.  K.  Shaw. 

In  November,  1863,  I  left  Denver  with  a  two- 
horse  team  and  some  of  my  truck,  and  headed  for 
Helena,  Montana.  A  short  time  afterwards  I  took 
four  or  five  wagons  and  men  and  went  near  Banick 
City,  put  up  a  log  house  and  started  a  station.  It 
was  while  here  that  I  got  acquainted  with  some  of 
the  road  agents  and  familiar  with  their  plans  and 
tricks. 

The  Indians  were  not  our  only  enemies;  we  lost 
a  lot  through  the  road  agents,  who  were  principally 
the  criminals  and  jail  breakers  that  escaped  from  the 
East  and  took  refuge  in  our  western  wilderness, 
where  there  was  no  law,  and,  as  they  supposed,  they 
could  have  things  their  own  way.  But  they  got 
fooled.  We  formed  vigilant  parties  to  protect  our- 
selves, and  no  more  thought  of  stringing  up  an  out- 
law who  molested  us  than  we  did  of  scalping  a  red- 
skin who  had  killed  our  neighbor  and  destroyed  our 
property. 


2l8  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

Just  to  show  you  how  we  did  it,  I  will  tell  you  of 
some  of  the  road  agents  I  ran  across  while  on  my 
trip  to  Montana. 

In  that  part  of  Montana,  gold  was  found  in  great 
quantities,  and  a  large  gang  of  men  were  getting  out 
the  gold  dust  and  going  back  to  the  states,  so  there 
was  a  continual  come  and  go. 

The  outlaws  soon  saw  a  chance  for  easy  money 
and  after  the  miners  got  the  gold  and  started  on  the 
road  home,  they  were  often  waylaid  and  robbed,  gen- 
erally killed. 

Henry  Plummer  had  been  appointed  sheriff,  but 
the  people  noticed  that  the  road  agents  were  just  as 
bad  as  ever,  and  soon  discovered  that  Plummer  was 
their  leader  and  playing  into  their  hands. 

On  one  occasion  Jack  Oliver,  Jack  Hughes  and 
Sloan  took  several  mule  teams  and  loads  of  groceries 
and  liquor  to  a  station  about  sixty  miles  from  my 
station.  They  got  a  large  amount  of  gold  dust  in 
exchange  for  their  loads.  Being  afraid  to  try  to 
carry  it  home,  they  traded  it  for  greenbacks  and  put 
them  in  several  envelopes  and  addressed  them  to  dif- 
ferent people  in  Denver,   and  scattered  them  out 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  219 


among  their  drivers,  just  as  though  it  was  letters 
they  were  carrying  back. 

The  road  agents  always  had  spies  out,  and  one  of 
them  got  onto  how  the  money  was  being  carried.  As 
the  teams  were  quite  a  distance  out  on  the  road  they 
were  held  up  and  the  money  taken  from  the  drivers. 
When  the  robbers  got  to  the  last  wagon,  Jack 
Hughes  and  Sloan  raised  up  from  under  the  canvas 
cover  and  opened  fire  on  them.  The  robbers  dropped 
the  envelopes  and  ran.  The  two  who  attacked  the 
last  wagon  were  severely  wounded,  but  managed  to 
escape. 

Sloan,  Hughes  and  their  men  went  on  into  the 
next  town  and  reported.  Five  vigilantes,  headed  by 
John  Featherson,  started  in  pursuit. 

A  few  nights  before  a  man  by  the  name  of  Pease 
stopped  at  my  place  and  had  turned  his  horse  loose 
to  go  to  water.  The  horse  failed  to  come  back  to  the 
feed  and  we  scoured  all  around  the  place,  but  found 
no  trace  of  it.  When  the  outlaws  held  up  Sloan's 
party  they  had  a  horse  that  Sloan  recognized  as 
Pease's.  He  recaptured  it  and  returned  it  to  its 
owner. 


220  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


As  the  vigilantes  were  scouring  the  country  for 
ihe  road  agents,  they  noticed  smoke  curling  up  out 
of  the  willows  in  the  distance  and  turned  that  way. 

John  Wagner  and  Ned  Ray,  the  two  outlaws 
wounded  by  Sloan  and  Hughes,  got  as  far  as  the 
willows  and  gave  out,  on  account  of  the  pain  and 
loss  of  blood  resulting  from  their  wounds.  They 
stopped  and  built  a  fire  and  waited,  taking  their 
chances  for  either  some  of  their  companions  or  the 
vigilantes  finding  them  first. 

When  found  by  the  latter,  they  were  nearly 
starved,  their  wounds  swollen  and  hands  and  feet 
badly  frozen.  They  were  brought  to  my  cabin  and 
cared  for  until  something  was  decided  upon.  There 
was  no  bed  for  Wagner,  so  I  took  him  in  with  me. 
The  boys  tried  to  talk  me  out  of  it,  but  he  was  human 
and  suffering,  and  I  knew  he  could  not  harm  me,  he 
being  in  such  a  condition. 

The  vigilantes  strung  Wagner  up  three  times  to 
miake  him  confess  and  tell  who  his  comrades  were. 
The  ones  he  named  were  Jack  Gallager,  Henry 
Plummer,  Club-Foot  George,  Ned  Ray,  Spanish  Pete 
and  several  others,  whose  names  I  have  forgotten. 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  221 


Spanish  Pete  was  a  desperate  and  daring  fellow. 
He  always  said  he  would  never  be  taken  alive,  but 
would  always  save  one  shot  for  himself  when  cor- 
nered. While  trying  to  capture  Spanish  Pete,  Cub- 
bly  was  shot  in  the  hip  and  Featherson  was  grazed 
across  the  side  of  the  head;  his  hair  was  shaved  off 
by  a  bullet  from  the  temple  back.  Pete  hid  in  a  log 
house  that  was  built  with  logs  about  six  to  eight 
inches  in  diameter.  He  was  well  armed  and  pro- 
tected, and  at  first  no  one  could  get  near  enough  to 
make  an  opening  in  the  building.  At  last  one  of  the 
men  thought  of  a  little  army  howitzer  that  had  been 
given  to  a  family  to  take  across  the  plains.  He  got 
it  and  shot  a  four-pound  ball  through  the  walls  of 
the  cabin.  The  ball  went  through  both  walls  of  that 
cabin  and  on  into  my  cabin  and  lodged  in  a  sack  of 
flour. 

Durant,  who  had  had  some  serious  trouble  in  the 
past  with  Pete,  knocked  down  the  door  and  shot  him 
twice  with  a  double-barreled  shotgun.  I  believe  that 
Pete  was  dead  before  Durant  shot  him.  for  he  was 
crouched  down  in  a  corner  and  I  noticed  a  hole  in  his 


222  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

temple  with  powder  burns  around  it,  and  I  think  he 
carried  out  his  threat. 

The  vigilantes  took  his  body  and  hung  it  on  Mrs. 
Moser's  clothes  line  scalene;  then  they  just  riddled 
it  with  bullets.  Later  the  body  was  burned  on  some 
poles  taken  from  the  log  house. 

Three  more  were  hanged  that  night.  Henry 
Plummer  was  one  of  them.  He  was  the  first  to  hang 
on  the  gallows  that  he  had  built  to  hang  his  prison- 
ers on  during  his  term  of  sheriff,  but  his  term  expired 
before  he  had  the  opportunity  to  hang  any  one. 

Slade,  Club-Foot  George,  Jack  Gallager  and 
Boone  Helm  were  taken  to  Helena  and  hanged  the 
next  morning.  As  they  were  all  standing  on  the 
boxes  with  the  noose  around  their  necks,  Helm  no- 
ticed that  Gallager  had  on  a  new  suit  of  clothes.  He 
said:  "Gallager,  you  had  better  give  me  those 
clothes;  you  will  never  need  them  any  more."  He 
said  it  just  as  though  he  was  not  going  to  be  hung, 
too.  Then  some  one  asked  Helm  if  he  wanted  an}^- 
thing  before  he  died.  He  asked  for  a  drink  and  when 
a  glass  of  whiskey  was  handed  to  him,  he  raised  it 
and  said:  "Hurrah!  for  Jeff  D ,"  just  then  the 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO 223 

box  was  kicked  from  under  him.  Helm  was  a  south- 
ern man  and  every  time  he  gave  a  toast  or  anything 
pleased  him,  he  would  always  cheer  for  JefF  Davis. 

When  Mrs.  Slade  heard  that  her  husband  was 
captured,  she  left  Mountain  Meadow  with  Nailer 
Thompson,  a  great  friend  of  Slade's,  and  hurried  to 
Helena.  They  rode  horseback  all  day  and  night,  and 
just  as  Slade  was  on  the  box  with  the  noose  around 
his  neck,  she  came  dashing  down  the  mountain  on  a 
dead  run,  her  horse  covered  with  foam  and  in  places 
the  foam  had  frozen.  She  ran  up  to  the  mob  and 
without  stopping  her  horse  she  leaped  down  with  two 
drawn  revolvers  and  run  into  the  crowd.  Some  one 
took  the  guns  and  led  her  away.  Thompson  tried  to 
interfere,  but  was  told  to  be  careful  or  he  would 
swing,  too.  As  soon  as  Mrs.  Slade  was  taken  away 
the  box  was  kicked  from  under  her  husband. 

The  rest  of  the  road  agents  escaped  to  Deer 
Lodge.  A  short  time  after  this  the  stage  running 
through  the  Rattlesnake  country  was  held  up  and 
Bummer  Dan,  who  had  always  been  a  tramp,  but 
had  got  a  sudden  raise,  was  robbed  of  nine  thousand 
dollars.    A  young  vigilante  followed  one  of  the  rob- 


22U.  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

bers  over  into  Idaho  and  got  the  drop  on  him.  The 
vigilante  took  advantage  of  the  robber's  surprise  and 
used  a  little  strategem.  In  some  way  he  made  the 
robber  believe  he  had  help  hidden  near  by,  when 
there  was  not  a  person  for  miles  around.  He  got  the 
robber  to  put  up  his  hands,  and  he  tied  them  to- 
gether; then  he  got  him  on  a  mule  and  led  the  mule 
under  a  tree,  put  one  end  of  a  rope  around  the  rob- 
ber's neck,  the  other  end  over  a  branch  of  the  tree, 
and  told  the  mule  to  "Get  up."  The  vigilante  left 
the  once  desperate  road  agent  a  hanging  carcass. 

I  stayed  in  Montana  four  months,  and  during 
that  time  sixty-four  bandits  were  hung. 

Smith,  Holmes,  Ritterhouse,  Bullock  and  myself 
formed  a  party  to  go  from  Helena  to  Salt  Lake. 
Holmes  and  Ritterhouse  had  been  freighters  from 
Ogden  and  sold  their  cattle  and  outfit  to  Darce  and 
Vivian  for  about  twelve  thousand  dollars,  and  the 
rest  of  us  had  several  thousand  between  us.  We 
were  always  on  the  lookout  for  the  road  agents,  and 
wanted  to  be  on  the  safe  side,  so  we  put  the  money 
in  a  pack  on  some  mules  and  two  men  were  always 
mounted  on  good  horses  to  guard  the  mules,  while 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  225 


one  did  the  cooking  and  watched  the  wagons.  We 
made  a  rule  for  none  of  us  to  shoot  unless  as  a  sig- 
nal that  the  road  agents  were  near. 

One  night,  shortly  after  we  made  camp,  I  strayed 
away  from  the  others,  and  suddenly  I  saw  some- 
thing that  caused  me  to  shoot  in  a  hurry.  The  oth- 
ers came  running  and  awfully  excited.  I  showed 
them  what  I  had  killed,  and  their  excitement 
changed  from  fear  into  keen  appetite.  I  had  shot 
two  mountain  trout,  the  two  together  weighing  nine- 
teen pounds. 

At  Salt  Lake  City  Smith  and  I  left  the  others 
and  took  the  road  down  the  Echo  canon  and  headed 
for  Denver.  We  met  some  immigrants  on  the  way 
who  warned  us  of  Indians,  as  there  had  been  a  rumor 
of  an  uprising.  We  got  across  the  North  Platte  be- 
fore we  heard  anything  more  of  them,  but  we  were 
at  Marie  Anna  Station,  and  well  sheltered. 

We  got  into  Denver  just  as  the  report  of  the 
Hungate  massacre  got  there.  I  immediately  joined 
in  with  the  rescuing  and  scouting  party. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

A  TRIP  TO  THE  MISSOURI  RIVER. 

As  l^old  by  A.K.  Shaw. 

A  man  by  the  name  of  Pease  and  I  happened  to 
run  across  each  other,  while  on  our  way  to  the  Mis- 
souri river.  We  were  freighting  and  had  several 
wagons  and  a  large  number  of  oxen  with  us.  On  the 
main  traveled  side  of  the  river  the  grass  was  poor, 
so  we  forded  the  river  and  made  camp  on  the  oppo- 
site side. 

Right  after  we  had  turned  the  cattle  out  to  graze, 
we  noticed  a  large  and  dark  cloud  coming  up  over 
the  horizon.  We  gave  the  boys  orders  to  prepare  a 
corral,  by  chaining  all  the  wagons  together  in  a  cir- 
cle, while  we  gathered  up  the  oxen.  Just  before  we 
got  them  to  the  corral,  the  storm  struck  us  and  the 
cattle  stampeded.  Pease  and  I  followed  them  all 
that  night.  Fourteen  head  got  down  in  a  gutter  and 
were  stamped  to  death  by  the  others  running  over 
them. 

We  failed  to  get  them  turned  back  that  night,  so 
in  the  morning  we  went  back  to  camp  for  something 


228  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

to  eat  and  to  get  a  new  start.  The  ground  was  cov- 
ered with  snow  and  the  boys  we  had  left  in  camp  had 
got  up  and  scraped  the  snow  off  a  small  place  so  they 
could  build  a  fire,  made  some  coffee  and  went  back 
to  bed  and  that  is  where  we  found  them  about  noon, 
when  we  drifted  into  camp.  We  went  after  the  cat- 
tle again,  but  there  were  sixteen  head  that  we  could 
not  find,  and  we  were  unable  to  spend  much  time  in 
looking.  While  hunting  we  were  on  a  sharp  look- 
out for  Indians,  for  there  were  plenty  around  us.  As 
I  was  looking  over  the  country  through  my  field 
glasses,  I  saw  an  object  and  had  Pease  to  look  at  it. 
We  both  decided  that  it  was  an  Indian  and  started 
after  it.  As  we  drew  nearer  we  were  sure  it  was  one. 
When  within  firing  distance,  I  shot  several  shots  at 
it,  but  it  did  not  offer  to  return  the  shots  or  to  run. 
I  went  still  closer  and  shot  again,  with  the  same  re- 
sults. I  finally  concluded  that  it  was  fooling  me  and 
was  working  a  scheme.  I  thought  possibly  it  had 
something  under  its  robe  that  prevented  the  bullets 
from  striking  it,  and  there  might  be  come  others  hid- 
den in  the  brush,  who  would  spring  out  on  me  when 
I  got  near  enough. 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  229 

At  last  I  screwed  up  courage  and  took  my  two 
revolvers,  remounted  my  horse,  and  went  on  a  dead 
run  towards  it,  emptying  both  revolvers  right  on  to 
it  as  I  went.  Yet  it  just  stood  and  never  offered  to 
fight.  When  within  about  twenty  feet,  I  saw  that  it 
was  not  an  Indian.  Some  one  had  killed  a  buffalo 
and  cut  the  meat  out,  leaving  the  head  and  horns  on 
the  hide.  The  meat  side  had  been  turned  up  to  the 
sun  and  the  heat  drew  it  together;  then  we  figured 
out  that  the  wind  must  have  blowed  it  up  on  end 
and  the  horns  stuck  in  the  sand  and  the  dirt  had 
packed  around  them,  thus  holding  the  hide  erect,  and 
at  a  distance  it  appeared  like  an  Indian  holding  his 
buffalo  robe  around  him. 

We  took  what  cattle  we  had  found  and  went 
back  to  camp,  rigged  up  teams  enough  to  take  our 
loads  on  to  the  Missouri  river. 

On  the  return  of  our  second  trip  we  passed  the 
Malalie  ranch,  and  one  of  our  boys  noticed  eight 
head  of  oxen  in  their  corral,  that  lovoked  like  the  ones 
we  had  lost  on  the  first  trip. 

I  went  in  and  saw  that  the}'  were  my  cattle  and 
asked  Malalie  about  them.     He  said  the^•  were  not 


2,^0  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

mine,  for  they  did  not  have  my  brand  on,  and  that 
the  commanding  officer  at  Julesburg  gave  him  per- 
mission to  take  in  and  dispose  of  all  stray  stock  on 
the  range  around  his  place. 

I  told  him  that  was  all  right  and  I  was  willing 
to  pay  him  for  the  feed  and  trouble  they  had  cost 
him,  but  he  would  not  make  any  terms,  so  I  went  on 
and  made  camp  a  short  distance  from  his  place.  That 
evening  I  took  my  men  and  some  whiskey  and  went 
to  call  on  the  Malalies.  I  treated  them  all  to  a  drink 
or  two  and  spent  a  few  sociable  minutes ;  then  I  went 
to  the  corral.  The  cattle  were  in  a  sod  corral  and  it 
had  big  strong  gates  fastened  with  padlocks.  I  told 
Malalie  that  I  was  going  to  take  my  cattle  home,  and 
proceeded  to  break  the  lock,  opened  the  gate  and 
ordered  the  boys  to  drive  the  cattle  out,  while  I  stood 
the  Malalie  bunch  off.  I  had  the  advantage  over 
them;  all  my  boys  were  armed,  and  the  others  think- 
ing all  was  friendly  and  peaceable,  had  gone  out  of 
the  house  to  see  us  start  for  home  and  did  not  get  to 
their  guns  before  we  had  ours  leveled  and  saying: 
"If  you  make  a  move  we  will  shoot."  We  took  the 
cattle  on  home  without  anv  more  trouble,  but  when 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  23I 


we  got  into  Julesburg  we  were  arrested  and  Malalie 
appeared  against  us  with  the  complaint  that  we  were 
stealing  his  cattle. 

They  thought  they  had  the  cinch  on  me,  for  my 
brand  was  not  on  the  cattle.  Malalie  offered  to  let 
me  go  without  being  prosecuted  if  I  would  turn  over 
the  cattle  and  some  money  to  buy  him  off.  I  refused 
and  showed  them  a  K  on  the  horns  and  hoofs  of  the 
oxen  and  also  explained  how  the  Malalie  brand  was 
made  out  of  my  brand,  K,  on  the  side.  Then  I  had 
turned  the  tables  and  told  him  if  he  would  pay  me 
a  hundred  dollars  for  damage  done  to  my  goods  on 
account  of  the  delay,  I  would  take  my  cattle  off 
his  hands  and  go  on  without  troubling  him  any  more. 
He  was  willing  to  get  rid  of  me,  and  since  he  had 
made  a  little  off  my  other  eight  head  he  had  sold, 
he  consented  to  let  me  go  on  my  own  terms. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

A  BUFFALO  HUNT. 

As  'told  by  John  Patterson. 

Some  of  the  old  residents  will  remember  Jim 
Kimsey.  He  was  from  Southern  Illinois,  therefore 
did  not  know  much  about  fighting  Indians  before  he 
came  to  Colorado.  But  one  thing  he  soon  learned 
was,  that  he  was  afraid  of  them.  He  said :  "Nobody 
as  knows  'em  can  help  being  'fraid  of  'em;  white 
folks  are  hard  enough  to  fight,  but  Indians  are  worse, 
'cause  a  fellow  keeps  thinking  what  they  would  do 
to  ye  when  they  gets  a  chance."  He  was  out  after 
Indians  once  with  Jim  Pinkerton  and  Sam  Ashcraft. 
He  said:  "I  am  a  good  shot  at  an  antelope;  can 
bring  them  down  every  time;  but  I  had  five  fair  shots 
at  an  old  Indian's  back,  a  big,  broad-shouldered  fel- 
low, too,  I'd  judge  weighed  two  hundred  pounds,  but 
I  never  made  no  impression  on  him." 

I  have  been  out  with  Jim  a  number  of  times,  and, 
as  he  says,  he  is  a  good  shot.  We  were  out  together 
once  on  Beaver  creek.  The  whole  country  was  black 
with  buffalo;  there  seemed  to  be  thousands  of  them 


234  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

moving  north.  The  Indians  had  received  a  permit 
from  the  governor  of  the  state  to  go  to  Beaver  Creek 
to  hunt  buffalo.  Ouray,  Douglas  and  Colorow,  who 
were  Ute  Indians,  and  their  band,  with  Curtis,  their 
interpreter,  arrived  at  the  creek  in  the  evening  and 
had  a  big  pow-wow  that  night.  The  next  morning 
they  said  they  would  show  us  how  to  hunt  buffalo. 
They  started  out  in  groups  of  four,  two  bucks  and 
two  squaws,  on  their  ponies.  There  was  a  ridge  per- 
haps a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  camp.  We  went  up 
on  that  to  watch  them.  The  two  bucks  made  a  run 
for  the  herd  and  cut  out  the  one  they  wanted;  then 
one  would  fire  at  it,  and  if  he  missed  the  other  would 
fire.  As  soon  as  the  buffalo  was  killed  the  bucks 
would  ride  back  to  camp  and  the  squaws  would  take 
charge.  They  would  skin  it,  cut  up  the  meat  and 
pack  it  on  their  ponies  and  take  it  into  camp. 

The  Sioux,  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes  claimed 
this  hunting  ground,  but  they  camped  about  thirty- 
five  or  forty  miles  from  there.  The  Utes  found  out 
where  they  were  camped  and  made  a  raid  on  them, 
stole  their  ponies  and  struck  out  for  the  mountains. 
The  others  got  on  the  trail  of  the  Utes  and  followed 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  235 

them.  When  they  overtook  the  Utes  there  was 
quite  a  fight  and  they  got  their  ponies  back  and  some 
of  the  Utes'  ponies.  But  the  government  had  to  in- 
terfere and  get  back  the  Ute  ponies,  because  the  gov- 
ernor gave  them  permission  to  hunt  on  the  grounds 
belonging  to  the  Sioux,  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes. 

That  was  the  good  old  time  to  hunt  in  Colorado. 
I  brought  home  twenty-six  hind  quarters  from  }ear- 
lings  up  to  four-year-olds.  My  brother,  R.  Patter- 
son, had  twenty-seven  hind  quarters,  and  Kimsey  had 
twenty-six.  I  hung  mine  up  in  a  sod  house  and  we 
had  buffalo  meat  all  winter,  also  antelope  meat  by 
the  wholesale.  While  we  were  down  there  old  Chief 
Douglas  came  to  me  and  wanted  me  to  give  him  oats 
for  his  horse.  He  said:  "My  horse  'Merican  horse; 
no  stand  ridin'  'out  oats."  I  said:  "My  horse  is 
American  horse,  too,  and  can't  stand  to  pull  this  load 
of  buffalo  back  home  without  oats,  and  I  have  only 
enough  for  one."    So  I  would  not  give  any. 

After  we  had  started  home  and  were  about  six 
miles  from  camp,  we  met  two  Englishmen  from 
Greeley,  going  after  a  load  of  buffalo.  They  had 
small  guns,  wholly  unfit  for  such  hunting,  and  the 


236  TRUE   HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

Indians  had  got  in  their  wagon  and  stole  their  grub, 
so  we  gave  them  something  to  eat.  They  then 
wanted  us  to  kill  them  a  load,  but  some  of  the  boys 
m  our  crowd  thought  we  ought  to  have  a  little  fun 
with  them  first. 

They  shot  one  buffalo  and  just  crippled  it,  then 
told  the  men  they  did  not  want  to  waste  any  more 
ammunition,  but  for  one  of  them  to  go  for  him  with 
a  knife,  as  it  did  not  have  any  horns.  The  calf  got 
the  best  of  them  and  knocked  them  down.  The  boys 
then  called  out,  "Tail  him."  "Cut  his  ham  strings," 
etc.  The  men  went  for  the  calf  again,  but  were 
knocked  down  the  second  time.  The  boys  thought 
they  had  fun  enough,  so  they  killed  some  buffalo  to 
load  their  wagon  and  sent  them  on  their  way  rejoic- 
ing. We  always  had  good  times  when  we  were  out, 
but  I  think  this  was  our  last  buffalo  hunt. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

MY    FIRST   INTRODUCTION    TO   COLORADO. 

As  T^old  by  Mrs.  John  Patterson. 

In  1866  Colorado  was  rather  a  dreary  looking 
place,  especially  in  Weld  county,  near  where  the 
town  of  Greeley  is  now  located. 

Leaving  Coultersville,  Illinois,  the  last  day  of 
April,  in  company  with  Mr.  Isaiah  Lemon  and  fam- 
ily, consisting  of  his  two  sons  and  two  daughters, 
we  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Poudre  on  the  fif- 
teenth day  of  July,  being  eleven  weeks  on  the  road. 
We  could  hear  of  Indians  before  us  and  back  of  us ; 
we  passed  places  where  there  had  been  ranches 
burned  just  a  short  time  before  us.  I  think  we  saw 
only  two  Indians,  and  they  looked  as  though  they 
had  been  out  on  a  hunt.  We  also  saw  a  company 
of  Pawnee  soldiers.  But  we  know  that  it  was  our 
Heavenly  Father  that  guided  us  and  kept  us  from 
harm. 

Uncle  Carrol  Moore  and  Aunt  Eliza  had  lived  on 
the  banks  of  the  Poudre  for  several  years.  They 
were  aunt  and  uncle  to  all  the  people  around.     The 


238  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

ranchmen  just  milked  cows  and  cut  the  native  hay 
for  a  living.  Inside  of  four  years  we  only  heard  two 
sermons,  but  we  started  a  Sabbath  school  and  did 
the  best  we  could.  One  woman  remarked  that  she 
did  not  know  that  any  religion  had  ever  crossed  the 
Missouri  river;  but  she  found  out  different. 

Uncle  Carrol  and  Aunt  Eliza  always  got  along 
real  well  with  the  Indians,  who  often  came  down 
the  creek  for  the  squaws  to  gather  prickly  pears. 
They  would  use  wooden  tongs  to  pick  the  pears  to 
prevent  pricking  their  hands  on  the  thorns.  It  is 
said  that  at  one  time,  in  1864,  Fremont  saved  the 
lives  of  his  men  by  this  same  prickly  fruit. 

Uncle  Carrol  said  that  many  times  he  had  seen 
some  of  the  Indians  watching  him.  He  knew  they 
were  calculating  how  would  be  the  best  way  to  kill 
him. 

Uncle  said :  "I  always  had  my  old  Spencer  ready 
and  they  knew  what  I  could  do,  and  that  I  would 
shoot  if  necessary."  The  Indians  never  got  him. 
He  died  some  years  later  in  Greeley. 

We  did  have  several  Indian  scares  the  next  year. 
I  would  be  so  frightened  that  I  would  not  allow  any 


i:^ 


■  ^r'^^^Vi^^'^M'^:::-' 


ox- YOKE  AND  CHAIN —ACROSS^LAINd,   1864 


^ 
^ 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  2^9 


one  to  talk  of  Indians,  especially  after  dark.  The 
alarm  would  come  sometimes  when  we  were  prepar- 
ing to  go  to  bed.  The  words  would  be,  "All  to  one 
house."  Then  we  would  have  to  hustle  out  and  go. 
We  always  went  to  Mrs.  Wylie's  sod  house.  We 
were  few  in  number,  but  we  always  made  the  best 
of  it. 

Mrs.  Wylie's  youngest  son  and  daughter,  Sam 
and  Dellia,  are  still  living  on  the  old  place.  The 
old  sod  house  was  torn  down  a  number  of  years  ago, 
but  the  old  site  is  marked  by  the  ox  yoke  and  log 
chain  that  Sam  Wylie's  folks  used  in  crossing  the 
plains  from  Illinois  in  1864. 

I  think  the  last  big  Indian  scare  was  in  1878,  in 
the  what  was  then  Weld  county.  The  old  Weld 
county  is  not  near  so  large  now,  several  counties  hav- 
ing been  taken  off.  Quite  a  number  of  people  had  to 
gather  a  few  goods,  get  their  families  in  wagons  and 
take  them  to  places  of  safety. 

I  understood  that  Mrs.  B.  D.  Harper  was  the 
only  woman  that  remained  on  a  ranch.  Three  hired 
men  were  murdered  on  the  Tracy  ranch  and  the  other 
ranchmen  were  fired  upon.    The  three  murdered  men 


240  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

were  buried  at  what  is  now  Sterling.  It  is  stated 
that  the  cemetery  at  Sterling  was  started  at  that 
time.  People  used  to  say  in  early  days  that  out 
west  they  had  to  kill  a  man  to  start  a  cemeter}'. 
There  is  a  great  change  in  our  fair  state  since  those 
Indian  excitements. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

THE    ADVENT    OF    THE    UNION    PACIFIC    RAILROAD    IN 
THE  SUMMER  AND  FALL  OF    1867. 

By  IF.  S.  Coburn. 

In  July,  1867,  the  railroad  was  completed  to 
Julesburg  on  the  north  side  of  the  Platte  river  from 
old  Julesburg  or  Fort  Sedgwick ;  thus  destroying  the 
business  of  all  overland  feed  ranches  for  the  coming 
winter,  when  all  the  freighting  would  be  done  from 
Cheyenne,  a  new  town  to  be  surveyed  and  platted 
early  in  August.  We  at  once  closed  out  our  surplus 
stock  and  abandoned  the  old  fort  and  ranch,  where 
we  had  spent  several  years  and  had  all  our  experi- 
ences with  the  Indians  that  we  cared  for,  and  went  to 
Julesburg.  There  we  found  a  new  element  with  the 
advent  of  the  railroad,  consisting  of  gamblers, 
thieves,  murderers,  hold-ups  and  lewd  women,  all  of 
whom  were  in  high  spirits  and  doing  a  thriving  busi- 
ness. The  town  soon  had  two  to  three  thousand  in- 
habitants, comprising  ranchmen  like  myself,  con- 
tractors, railroad  men,  merchants,  hotel  and  saloon 


242  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

men,  besides  the  former  referred  to.  All  these, 
mostly  strangers  to  each  other,  formed  a  conglomer- 
ate mass  of  humanity  that  is  seldom  seen  anywhere 
except  in  a  new  town  on  the  frontier. 

They  formed  a  local  town  government,  elected 
a  board  of  coimcilmen,  police  justice,  whose  name 
was  Hall,  and  city  marshal.  They  also  erected  a 
log  jail.  We  did  not  know  at  that  time  whether  we 
were  in  Colorado,  Nebraska  or  Wyoming,  and  as  for 
that  it  made  but  very  little  difference,  as  the  old 
police  justice  exclaimed  with  considerable  emphasis, 
bringing  his  fist  down  on  the  table  when  a  prisoner 
said  he  would  take  an  appeal :  "Sir,  there  is  no  ap- 
peal from  this  court."  Many  amusing  things  took 
place,  one  of  which  I  will  relate :  The  marshal  had 
six  prisoners  in  the  log  jail  on  all  kinds  of  charges 
from  stealing  to  murder.  The  jail  was  located  on 
the  next  lot  from  where  I  was  stopping.  While  the 
guests  were  eating  dinner  one  day  the  prisoners  were 
making  a  great  noise,  singing  and  holloing,  and 
some  of  the  guests  at  the  table  made  the  remark  that 
the  prisoners  must  feel  very  happy.  All  this  noise 
was  for  a  purpose,  however;  some  of  their  friends 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  243 


had  furnished  the  prisoners  with  a  saw  and  revolvers 
and  they  were  making  this  noise  to  drown  the  noise 
of  the  saw  while  sawing  a  log  out  of  the  side  of  the 
jail  so  they  might  escape.  When  dinner  was  over  I 
walked  out  to  the  front  porch  and  as  I  was  lighting 
a  cigar,  the  six  prisoners  came  around  the  corner  of 
the  hotel,  each  with  two  revolvers,  yelling  and  shoot- 
ing as  they  came.  They  soon  found  the  marshal  and 
disarmed  him  and  compelled  him  to  accompany  them 
to  all  of  the  saloons  and  dance  halls  and  drink  with 
them.  Thus  they  held  the  town  for  three  hours, 
when  they  scattered  and  took  to  the  sand  hills.  The 
old  police  justice  in  the  meantime  had  worked  him- 
self up  to  a  high  pitch,  frequently  slipping  out  of  his 
office  to  get  a  drink,  when  the  prisoners  were  down 
town,  until  he  had  about  all  he  could  carry.  When 
the  prisoners  turned  the  marshal  free,  he  made 
straight  for  Judge  Hall's  office  to  report  what  had 
happened,  just  as  though  the  judge  was  not  familiar 
with  everything  that  had  gone  on.  The  judge  asked 
the  marshal  if  he  knew  of  any  old  pioneers  that  were 
well  armed  and  mounted  on  good  horses.  He  told 
him  the  three  ranchmen  from  up  the  river  had  re- 


244  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

cently  come  in,  meaning  John  Fuel,  Harvey 
Blonck  and  myself.  He  ordered  the  marshal  to 
bring  us  before  him  at  once.  When  the  marshal 
found  us  and  told  us  that  our  immediate  presence 
was  wanted,  we  were  at  a  loss  to  know  what  was 
wanted,  and  the  other  two  men  asked  me  to  be 
spokesman.  When  the  marshal  reported  to  the  judge 
with  us,  he  was  fully  "three  sheets  in  the  wind,"  as 
the  sailor  would  say,  and  very  much  excited.  He 
asked  about  our  horses  and  our  arms  and  when  we 
assured  him  there  was  no  better  armed  or  mounted 
men  in  the  territory,  he  told  us  that  the  prisoners  had 
sawed  a  log  out  of  the  jail  and  escaped.  When  we 
told  him  we  were  aware  of  that  fact  fully  three  hours 
ago,  he  ordered  us  to  mount  our  horses  and  go  out 
into  the  sand  hills  and  capture  them,  dead  or  alive. 
I  asked  him  how  we  were  to  know  them,  telling  that 
hunters  for  antelopes,  which  were  very  plentiful, 
were  out  in  the  hills  from  town  all  of  the  time,  and 
according  to  his  description  the  prisoners  were  des- 
perate men,  and  we  would  take  no  chances  if  we  went 
after  them;  the  first  man  we  saw  we  would  ride  to 
within  gunshot  and  dismount  and  throw  our  guns 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  245 


across  the  saddle  and  bring  him  down,  then  tie  him 
onto  a  horse  and  bring  him  in,  to  see  if  he  was  one 
of  the  party  wanted.  In  a  new  western  town  it  was 
all  excitement  and  everybody  was  a  stranger  to  each 
other.  It  was  a  hazardous  undertaking  and  besides, 
I  told  the  judge  that  we  were  preparing  to  leave  the 
next  morning  for  the  new  town  of  Cheyenne,  and 
taking  everj'thing  into  consideration,  that  we  would 
not  go  out  after  his  prisoners.  One  whom  the  judge 
was  very  anxious  to  capture,  went  by  the  name  of 
"Shorty,"  who  he  claimed  had  killed  a  man  a  few 
nights  before.  We  left  the  judge  swearing  like  a 
sailor  and  emphasizing  his  wrath  by  pounding  his 
fists  on  the  table  and  threatening  us  with  dire  ven- 
geance. 

The  next  morning  we  started  for  a  journey  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  miles  on  our  horses  for  Chey- 
enne. At  noon  we  stopped  at  the  first  ranch,  twenty- 
two  miles  up  Pole  creek  from  Julesburg,  and  got  our 
dinner,  and  then  sat  down  in  the  shade  of  a  sod  house 
to  smoke  and  rest  awhile. 

While  sitting  there  we  saw  a  lone  man  about  a 
mile  away,  coming  toward  the  ranch.    It  was  a  ven,- 


246  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

unusual  thing  to  see  a  man  out  alone  when  the  coun- 
try was  full  of  hostile  Indians.  He  kept  on  coming 
until  he  got  where  we  were  and  took  a  seat  in  the 
shade  next  to  me  and  asked  us  which  way  we  were 
traveling.  When  we  told  him  we  were  going  to 
Cheyenne,  he  asked  where  we  were  from,  and  I  told 
him  from  Julesburg.  He  then  wanted  to  know  what 
the  news  was.  I  told  him  there  was  not  much  news 
excepting  the  prisoners  in  the  jail  broke  loose  the 
day  before  and  shot  up  the  town  and  skipped  out.  I 
then  told  him  our  experiences  with  the  judge  and 
how  anxious  he  seemed  to  be  to  capture  one  of  the 
prisoners,  whom,  he  claimed,  had  killed  a  man  for 
money  a  few  nights  before,  who  went  by  the  name  of 
"Shorty."  After  telling  him  the  whole  story,  which 
was  ver}^  amusing  to  him,  he  told  me  he  was  the  man 
"Shorty"  referred  to.  After  being  very  much  sur- 
prised at  his  announcement,  I  advised  him  he  had 
better  not  go  back  to  Julesburg,  or  they  would  hang 
him  as  sure  as  fate.  He  informed  me  that  he  did  not 
intend  to  go  back,  but  was  on  his  way  to  Cheyenne, 
stopping  along  the  route  at  grading  camps  at  night. 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  247 


When  Cheyenne  got  started  and  the  track  was 
finished  that  far  in  November,  1867,  work  on  the 
grade  was  nearly  all  suspended  for  the  winter,  except 
in  the  deep  cuts  in  the  Black  Hills  and  some  rock 
work.  This  filled  the  town  with  all  of  the  rough  ele- 
ment, as  well  as  contractors,  graders  and  a  large  force 
of  repair  men. 

I  built  one  of  the  first  buildings  in  Cheyenne  of 
concrete,  22x80  feet,  which  stands  on  Seventeenth 
street,  and  was  used  as  a  wagon  and  blacksmith  shop 
a  year  ago.     I  also  dug  the  first  well  on  this  lot. 

When  the  winter  closed  in  "Shorty"  and  his 
band  were  in  full  control,  stealing  horses  and  run- 
ning them  into  the  open  forks  of  the  mountains,  hold- 
ing up  men  in  the  streets  in  midday  and  shooting  up 
the  town  at  will.  Their  headquarters  was  a  saloon 
by  that  name  in  Cheyenne,  kept  by  Dad  Cunning- 
ham, who  was  the  captain  of  the  band  of  seventeen 
men.  They  usually  located  in  a  camp  or  town  one 
hundred  to  t\\'o  hundred  miles  ahead  of  where  the 
Union  Pacific  railroad  was  completed.  During  one 
year  there  were  twenty-six  men  out  of  the  gang  that 
were  hung  and  shot,  and  still  they  kept  recruiting. 


248  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

and  had  seventeen  at  the  finishing  of  the  railroad  at 
Promontory  Point  on  the  tenth  day  of  May,  1869. 

I  was  selling  goods  all  along  the  Union  Pacific 
until  it  was  completed  and  was  personally  acquainted 
with  the  most  of  the  band  of  robbers,  hold-ups  and 
thieves,  but  the  act  of  my  first  introduction  by  old 
Judge  Hall  of  Julesburg  and  meeting  one  of  the 
principals  and  relating  my  experience  to  him  caused 
me  never  to  be  bothered  by  the  gang. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

GOLD    MINERS    FROM    MONTANA    RETURNING  TO   THE 
STATES  AFTER  A  SUCCESSFUL  TRIP. 

In  the  fall  of  1865,  twenty-five  miners  from  Alder 
Gulch,  Montana,  came  down  the  Platte  river  on  the 
overland  trail,  returning  to  their  homes  in  the  states, 
with  a  pack  train.  The  least  amount  of  gold  dust 
any  one  of  them  had  was  sixty  pounds,  and  some  of 
them  had  as  much  as  two  hundred  pounds;  and 
when  one  stops  to  think  that  four  pounds  makes  ap- 
proximately one  thousand  dollars  when  coined,  we 
can  see  that  they  were  pretty  well  fixed.  They  were 
well  armed  with  two  revolvers  and  rifles,  besides  each 
carried  a  big  hunting  knife.  They  camped  on  the 
bank  of  the  Platte  river,  near  my  place,  one  night, 
and  during  the  night  the  Indians  set  fire  to  the  dry 
grass  and  made  an  attempt  to  kill  the  men  and  cap- 
ture the  horses  and  camp.  They  were  not  surprised, 
however,  as  they  kept  a  guard  out  every  night.  After 
a  pitched  battle  they  succeeded  in  making  their  way 
to.  my  large  sod  corral.  The  Indians  then  gave  it  up 
and  left,  after  capturing  three  fine  horses  belonging 


2*^0  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

to  me,  which  were  tied  to  a  wagon  just  inside  of  one 
of  my  stables,  where  I  had  spread  my  blankets  and 
was  sleeping  within  thirty  feet  of  my  horses  and 
never  woke  up  until  the  miners  were  all  inside. 

There  was  a  man  by  the  name  of  Black,  who 
had  a  contract  to  put  up  fifteen  hundred  tons  of  hay 
for  the  government  at  Julesburg  or  Fort  Sedgwick  at 
one  hundred  dollars  per  ton,  and  the  government  fur- 
nished a  company  of  soldiers  to  keep  the  Indians  off 
while  he  filled  the  contract. 

The  Indians  cared  very  little  for  the  regular  sol- 
diers and  took  great  delight  in  decoying  them  away 
after  two  or  three  Indians,  while  the  balance  raided 
the  haymakers,  each  one  of  whom  carried  two  revolv- 
ers in  his  belt  and  a  repeating  rifle  swung  to  his  back. 
When  the  men  concentrated  for  self-protection,  the 
Indians  would  amuse  themselves  by  burning  the  hay 
and  shooting  the  men  off  the  mowing  machines  and 
capturing  the  horses.  Mr.  Black  had  been  so  much 
annoyed  by  these  depredations  that  he  was  very  much 
discouraged,  and  in  conversation  with  the  writer  a 
few  days  before  the  miners  came  along,  he  told  him 
that  unless  he  could  get  men  to  protect  him  he  would 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  25I 


have  to  throw  up  the  contract.  In  the  morning  I  told 
the  miners  how  the  Indians  were  continually  making 
raids  and  what  Mr.  Black  had  told  me  a  few  days 
previous.  After  consulting  together  they  said  if  he 
would  make  it  an  inducement  and  pay  them  enough 
they  would  guarantee  to  keep  the  Indians  off  while  he 
filled  his  contract.  They  at  once  saw  Mr.  Black  and 
closed  a  contract  with  him  for  two  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  per  day  or  ten  dollars  each.  One  of  their 
number  was  appointed  cook  and  the  others  kept 
twelve  men  in  the  saddle  on  six-hour  shifts  night  and 
day.  When  the  Indians  came  in  sight  they  would  all 
mount  their  horses  and  raise  a  yell  and  go  after  them. 
The  Indians  soon  found  that  they  were  not  fooling 
with  regular  soldiers,  and  Mr.  Black  went  on  and 
filled  his  contract,  and  for  the  forty  days  these  min- 
ers were  employed  he  paid  them  ten  thousand  dollars, 
which  added  to  their  already  nice  stake  of  gold  dust 
from  Montana.  They  then  resumed  their  journey  to 
the  states  and  their  homes,  and  I  never  heard  of  them 
afterwards. 


N.  S.  HURD 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

LOYALTY  OF  THE   PIONEERS. 

The  hardships  undergone  by  the  pioneers  and 
the  unfaltering  courage  with  which  they  faced  their 
trials,  have  been  described  to  you,  not  as  fully  as  they 
might  be,  for  it  is  impossible  to  put  down  in  black 
and  white  or  to  find  words  to  express  the  reality  of 
those  early  days,  so  we  will  let  that  subject  drop  and 
turn  to  another  important  and  visible  factor  in  the 
lives  of  the  pioneers,  not  only  in  the  early  days,  but 
now  among  the  few  remaining  ones. 

'Tis  a  tie  that  binds  them,  not  as  the  sworn  ties 
of  secret  organizations,  etc.,  but  a  tie  of  memory  and 
sympathy  for  their  comrades  whom  fate  smiles  un- 
kindly upon,  and  a  tie  of  rejoicing  with  the  more 
fortunate  ones.  Circumstances  never  altered  the 
tie  of  loyalty  that  so  bound  these  sturdy  and  true 
companions  who  stood  by  each  other  in  days  of 
youth  and  strife  up  to  the  days  of  old  age,  and  let 
us  hope  days  of  rest  and  comfort,  that  they  so  greatly 
deserve. 


254  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

To  make  more  clear  the  loyalty  of  the  pioneers, 
the  address  of  Hon.  N.  S.  Hurd,  who  was  the  presi- 
dent of  the  Pioneer  Society  in  1907,  and  who  under- 
went all  the  horrors  of  frontier  life  and  came  through 
them  safe  and  sound,  can  tell  in  his  own  words  to 
a  clearer  understanding  than  his  already  been  de- 
scribed. 

The  following  address  was  given  at  the  expira- 
tion of  his  term  as  president  of  the  Pioneer  Society : 

"In  vacating  the  position  that  I  have  occupied 
for  the  last  year  as  president  of  the  Colorado  Pioneer 
Society,  I  find  that  it  is  hard  for  me  to  find  language 
to  express  to  you  the  gratitude  I  feel  towards  you  in 
conferring  upon  me  the  privilege  of  representing  you. 
To  be  president  of  this  society  I  consider  one  of  the 
greatest  honors  that  could  be  conferred  upon  any 
citizen  of  this  state. 

There  is  no  gift  I  could  have  appreciated  more 
and  I  wish  I  had  it  in  my  power  to  more  fully  ex- 
press my  gratitude,  but  I  can  only  thank  you,  while 
I  extend  to  you  my  kindest  wishes. 

We  are  all  growing  old  together ;  the  ambitions 
of  our  lives  have  been  attained  or  we  will  have  to 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  255 

lay  them  away  among  the  broken  hopes  that  were  in- 
cident to  the  hardships  and  privations  that  we  had  to 
struggle  through  when  we  first  came  to  this  coun- 
try. You  remember  when  we  crossed  the  Missouri 
river  and  were  leaving  civilization  six  hundred  miles 
in  our  rear,  and  like  Grant  at  Vicksburg,  our  cracker- 
line  was  cut  off  and  we  had  severed  our  connection 
with  the  outside  world. 

What  we  had  to  face,  we  did  not  know  and  we 
cared  just  a  little  bit  less;  we  were  ready  for  any- 
thing that  might  come  up  and  we  did  not  care  how 
soon  it  came  up  or  how  long  it  was  deferred;  we 
were  always  there  "with  the  goods."  With  the 
motley  throng  that  crossed  the  river  with  us  were 
statesmen,  scholars,  poets  and  sages  and  others  that 
walked  in  the  more  humble  industries  of  life;  brave 
men  and  women  that  were  too  brave ;  in  fact,  all  the 
cosmopolitan  conditions  of  the  whole  world  were 
scattered  out  on  the  broad  American  desert.  Each 
one  had  his  own  hopes  and  mighty  few  fears;  we 
were  all  upon  a  common  level  and  we  each  of  us 
had  a  'Howdy'  for  every  one  we  met  upon  the  trail. 


256  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

Those  were  good  old  days  I  Many  hardships  we 
had  to  encounter,  but  then  we  thought  we  knew  all 
we  had  to  do  was  to  get  on  to  the  banks  of  Cherry 
Creek  and  from  its  glittering  sands  of  gold  take  what 
we  wanted,  fill  our  buckskin  sacks  that  we  had  pro- 
vided before  we  left  Omaha,  and  get  back  to  our 
sweetheart  girls  early  in  the  fall. 

Well,  there  were  very  few  of  us  that  went  back 
and  I  am  not  among  the  number. 

In  the  meantime  I  found  that  I  had  crossed 
"Disable"  Creek.  I  had  lost  my  bag  and  I  did  not 
have  the  wherewithal  to  buy  a  postage  stamp  to 
write  back  to  my  sweetheart  girl  to  tell  her  how 
things  stood  out  in  this  country.  And  I  want  to  say 
to  you  right  now  that  I,  like  thousands  of  others, 
was  up  against  the  "real  thing." 

By  this  time  the  grub  we  had  brought  from  the 
states  was  all  gone,  and  I  only  just  have  to  call  your 
attention  to  the  fact  that  about  that  time  we  were 
long  on  appetites. 

And  here  the  struggle  commenced.  The  gold 
sack  we  had  brought  from  Omaha  had  long  since  been 
forgotten;  Cherry  Creek  had  proven  an  iridescent 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO 


^37 


dream.  Its  golden  sands  were  as  mythical  as  the 
fountain  of  youth  for  which  Ponce  de  Leon  and  his 
brave  band  prospected  this  country  five  hundred 
years  before. 

It  would  be  beyond  the  screen  of  human  vision — 
no  language  could  convey  to  one  that  sees  this  coun- 
try now,  with  all  its  marvelous  beauty  and  grandeur, 
how  forbidding  and  desolate  it  was  when  you  and  I 
first  looked  upon  it,  and  its  unproductive  general  ap- 
pearance was  just  what  its  name  implied,  "the  Great 
American  Desert." 

But  we  were  here  and  were  too  brave  to  go  back. 

There  was  just  money  enough  made  in  big 
chunks  by  the  lucky  ones  to  make  us  believe  that  some 
day  we  might  get  through  the  cap-rock — that  we 
might  be  the  fortunate  ones;  but  as  the  days  and 
years  went  by  everything  seemed  to  go  from  bad  to 
worse  and  I  do  not  believe  I  would  quite  like  to  tell 
the  epicures  of  today  just  how  many  of  us  wintered 
the  first  few  years  we  were  in  this  country,  but  the 
longer  we  were  here,  the  more  faith  we  had  in  the 
final  outcome. 

But  we  were  building  better  than  we  knew. 


2';8  TRUE   HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

Each  one  of  us  took  up  some  line  of  industry  and 
the  conditions  of  this  country  made  them  all  new 
and  untried.  Mine  was  mining  and  milling,  and 
when  I  started  my  mill  on  Spanish  Bar,  our  amalga- 
mating table  was  a  wooden  affair,  about  eighteen 
inches  wide,  with  a  quicksilver  riffle  at  the  lower 
edge;  and  if  our  ore  had  been  fifty  per  cent  gold  we 
could  not  have  saved  ten  per  cent  of  its  value. 

And  so  it  was  with  every  industry  that  now 
marks  the  boundaries  of  this  state,  which  probably 
has  richer  and  more  varied  industries  than  any  other 
country  in  the  world. 

As  far  as  my  researches  have  been  able  to  de- 
termine, David  Wall  raised  the  first  vegetables  that 
were  grown  here.  Judge  Downing  sowed  the  first 
seeds  of  alfalfa,  which  changed  and  revolutionized 
the  agricultural  condition  throughout  the  whole 
state.  The  Marshall  coal  land  was  the  first  one 
opened  for  commercial  purposes. 

It  is  estimated  that  we  have  more  coal  in  Colo- 
rado than  they  have  in  Pennsylvania.  Last  year  we 
mined  11,000,000  tons.  Pennsylvania  mined  183,- 
000,000.     The  vast  increased  condition  of  commer- 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  2^9 


cial  enterprises  will  soon  demand  that  we  mine  as 
iiuuh  coal  here  as  they  do  there,  and  when  that  time 
comes  there  will  be  something  doing  in  the  state  that 
you  have  done  so  much  for.  W.  H.  James,  of 
pleasant  memory,  and  your  humble  servant  set  up 
and  ran  the  first  power  drill  ever  operated  in  Colo- 
rado— a  ponderous  machine  on  a  frame  as  big  as 
one  of  the  old  horse  cars  that  were  once  so  familiar. 
It  took  ten  men  to  move  it  up  to  the  heading  of  the 
tunnel ;  it  took  from  half  to  three-quarters  of  an  hour 
to  clamp  it  into  place  so  that  it  could  be  operated; 
and  with  its  immense  drill  on  either  side,  it  looked 
like  one  of  Uncle  Sam's  war  vessels.  Now  two  men 
take  up  a  little  power  drill,  pack  it  anywhere,  set  it 
up  while  you  wait,  and  can  do  more  work  with  it 
than  we  could  with  the  old  machine  of  ancient  mem- 
ory. An  old  pioneer  negro  from  Joplin,  Missouri, 
built  the  first  smelter  and  produced  the  first  bullion 
ever  taken  out  in  Colorado,  and  if  he  had  lived  until 
the  present  time  he  might  have  been  at  the  head  of 
the  smelter  trust  and  had  great  political  honors  con- 
ferred upon  him. 


26o  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 


It  would  be  interesting  to  take  each  one  of  the 
many  industries  that  now  make  our  state  so  great, 
from  their  first  beginning,  at  the  hands  of  the  old 
boys,  and  follow  them  down  through  the  many 
changes  of  their  perfections  of  the  present  day. 

But  with  all  the  great  glory  that  has  come  to  our 
state  at  your  hands,  what  about  the  old  pioneer^ 
And  now  I  am  getting  into  deep  water.  The  theme 
is  too  large;  the  responsibility  in  trying  to  do  justice 
to  them  is  too  great  for  my  ability. 

I  look  over  this  little  handful  of  old  gray-haired 
\eterans  before  me  here  tonight,  and  memory  is 
busy  in  its  backward  flight,  and  it  conjures  up  the 
forms  and  faces  of  those  who  are  not  here — com- 
{)anions  of  our  lives  who  stood  beside  us  when  the 
storm  of  adversity  gathered  around  and  the  future 
held  out  but  little  hope;  then  their  smiles  were  the 
brightest  and  they  cheered  us  on  to  better  efforts  and 
nobler  deeds — good  wives — God  bless  them  I  But 
they  sleep  their  last  long  sleep. 

But  we  mourn  for  our  dead,  and,  like  Rachel,  we 
fail  to  be  comforted.  But  listen  I  We  think  we  can 
almost  hear  the  stroke  of  the  silent  oarsman  as  he 


THE   PIONEERS  OF  COLOR.ADO  26  I 


comes  across  the  dark  river  to  gather  in  the  remnant 
of  our  little  band,  and  soon  we  will  be  on  the  other 
shore  where  the  'Ho,  Jo,'  of  the  miner  may  be 
sounded  in  a  brighter  and  better  land  than  this. 

The  full  honor  and  glor}^  of  the  pioneer  will  not 
come  while  you  and  I  live,  but  with  song  and  stor\', 
and  with  marble  shafts,  the  memory  of  your  lives 
will  be  perpetuated  by  coming  generations.  The 
brightest  pages  of  histor)^  will  be  those  that  contain 
the  names  and  deeds  of  those  who  carved  an  empire 
out  of  this  forbidden  land. 

We  drop  a  silent  tear;  we  hear  the  dull  thud  of 
the  earth  as  it  falls  upon  the  grave  of  one  of  our 
number;  we  have  performed  the  last  duty  to  one 
that  has  been  with  us  so  long. 

Another  pioneer  is  gone.  And  right  here  let  me 
say  that  the  first  pioneer  that  was  buried  by  our 
society  was  a  man  whose  financial  condition  when  I 
first  knew  him,  was  as  sound  as  that  of  any  man  in 
the  state. 

Thousands  of  cattle  and  wagons  between  here 
and  the  river  were  his,  the  fortunes  of  war  and  the 
vicissitudes  of  life  turned  hard  against  him  and  our 


262  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

good  old  friend,  Judge  Steck,  assisted  him  through 
bankruptcy,  where  the  liabilities  were  $862,000,  and 
when  he  was  buried  by  our  society,  he  did  not  have 
a  single  cent.  Let  us  stay  close  together,  my  boys, 
for  we  cannot  tell  what  the  whirligig  of  time  may  do 
to  us. 

His  or  her  place  can  never  be  filled.  Pioneers 
cannot  be  made  and  some  one  in  the  days  that  are 
not  far  distant  will  be  the  last  of  the  Mohicans. 
And  while  we  pay  tribute  to  the  dead,  our  first  duty 
is  to  the  living.  It  has  been  our  hope  in  days  that 
have  passed  that  some  of  our  big  hearted,  wealthy 
members  would  donate  to  our  society  a  suitable  home 
where  our  declining  years  could  be  passed,  sur- 
rounded by  the  comforts  that  old  age  requires.  This 
may  never  be,  but  I  think  I  know  the  feeling  of  the 
people  of  Denver  and  Colorado  well  enough  to  know 
that  no  pioneer  shall  ever  want  for  the  necessities  of 
life,  and  let  this  be  our  duty  to  one  another. 

While  I  am  no  longer  your  president,  I  am  still 
a  pioneer,  and  any  time  I  can  be  of  ser\ice  to  the 
'old   boys'    individually   or   collectively,    I   will    be 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  263 

ready  to  do  what  I  can.  Our  strenuous  work  is  over 
and  what  we  want  now  is  social  enjoyment  and  all 
the  comforts  that  there  is  in  life.  My  hope  is  that 
this  may  be  yours.    And  may  peace  be  with  you." 


CHAPTER  XL. 

CONCLUSION. 

These  few  short  stories  were  told  to  the  writer 
by  three  pioneers  who  took  an  active  part  in  the  early 
settlement  of  Colorado. 

It  has  been  their  desire  for  several  years  past  to 
make  known  to  the  public  (and  especially  to  the 
citizens  of  the  state  of  Colorado  who  have  reaped 
the  benefits  of  the  labor,  hardships  and  endurance 
of  the  pioneers),  the  suffering,  fear  and  toils  that  so 
barred  the  settlement  in  the  early  days. 

Being  a  Colorado  girl  and  wanting  the  founda- 
tion builders  of  her  native  state  to  get  credit  for  the 
work  they  did,  the  writer  undertook  to  write  these 
stories  as  they  were  told  to  her. 

Kind  readers,  compare  the  West  as  it  was  fifty 
years  ago  when  the  white  men  first  began  to  settle 
in  it,  to  what  it  is  today. 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  Colorado  has  risen  up 
among  the  leading  states  of  the  union'? 

When  it  had  so  sturdy  and  brave  builders,  it 
took  not  only  strength  and  endurance  of  body,  but 


266  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

mind  and  determination  as  well,  to  undergo  their 
struggles  and  face  the  dangers  and  discouragements 
they  met  with,  and  yet  keep  pushing  their  way  for- 
ward, never  wavering  or  turning  back. 

There  were  times  when  it  seemed  as  though  they 
were  working  in  the  dark,  and  could  not  see  their  way 
through,  and  often  tempted  with  the  question,  "Will 
we  accomplish  anything  or  is  this  just  a  waste  of 
time?' 

In  those  darkest  days,  the  fearless  frontiersmen 
would  urge  onward,  giving  a  helping  hand  to  each 
other,  all  working  together  for  one  object,  •"the  devel- 
opment of  the  West." 

The  unselfish  consideration  for  each  other  was 
plainly  marked  throughout  the  years  on  the  frontier 
by  the  settlers.  They  thought  nothing  of  time  or 
money  if  their  neighbors  were  in  need.  They 
thought  nothing  of  self  or  fear  if  any  one  was  in 
danger.  They  never  asked  gold  or  silver  for  their 
services.  They  knew  if  need  be  they  would  have  the 
same  aid  and  protection  that  had  been  rendered  to 
their  neighbor.  One  common  characteristic  of  these 
frontiersmen  is,  they  are  modest  about  their  valor, 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  COLORADO  26/ 


and  when  asked  about  their  part  of  early-day  strug- 
gles and  achievements,  they  try  to  put  you  off  with, 
"Oh,  I  did  nothing  extra."  Upon  a  great  deal  of 
urging  and  questioning  you  can  bring  to  light  many 
deeds  that  one  would  almost  imagine  to  be  impossi- 
ble; privations  and  suffering  that  would  seem  beyoud 
endurance.  Yet  these  pioneers  did  nothing,  to  let 
them  tell  it,  but  down  in  their  hearts  they  know  they 
did.  Can  anything  stand  without  a  foundation*? 
Does  not  the  strength  and  lasting  qualities  of  any 
accomplishment  depend  upon  what  it  is  built  of'? 
If  the  frontiersmen  had  said  "fail"  and  given  up,  this 
West  would  not  have  been  the  enterprising  land  that 
it  is  today. 

If  it  had  been  people  weak  in  body  and  mind 
that  had  started  westward  first,  the  savages  would 
have  conquered  them  and  this  would  remain  a  half- 
civilized  country  instead  of  growing  to  the  advance- 
ment of  civilization  that  it  has  reached  in  such  few 
years. 

There  were  a  great  many  other  battles  and  strug- 
gles that  are  not  spoken  of  in  this  book,  yet  they  did 
their  part  toward  opening  the  gateway  into  the  West 


268  TRUE  HISTORY  OF  SOME  OF 

and  making  a  garden  of  prosperity  and  progress  out 
of  the  once  barren  wilderness. 

The  success  of  the  pioneers  proves  that  "Effort 
is  never  in  vain" — a  lesson  for  the  present  genera- 
tion to  follow.  Cultivate  the  determination  and 
endurance  of  the  forefathers  and  carry  on  the  work 
they  began.  "Push  onv/ard  with  the  standard  of 
civilization  and  turn  the  wheels  of  progress  until 
cur  West  has  reached  the  last  round  of  advancement 
and  development." 


BIOGRAPHY  OF  MISS  SHAW. 


Miss  Liiella  Shaw,  the  author  of  the  foregoing 
collection  of  narratives,  is  a  true  daughter  of  Colo- 
lado,  having  been  born  in  the  city  of  Durango  in  that 
state  in  the  year  1886,  and  educated  in  the  schools  of 
that  city  and  of  Silverton.  Her  ancestors  were 
among  the  pioneers  of  Colorado.  Her  grandfather, 
John  W.  Shaw,  came  to  the  state  in  1859,  and  later, 
in  1863,  brought  his  family  from  Iowa,  where  they 
had  stopped  for  a  short  time  on  their  way  west  from 
Albany,  New  York.  Mr.  Shaw  first  settled  at 
Georgetown,  later  moved  to  Pueblo  and  eventually 
located  at  Durango,  where  he  was  buried  in  1 909. 

Miss  Shaw's  maternal  grandfather,  George  R. 
Mock,  also  came  to  Colorado  in  1859,  from  Missouri, 
his  original  home  having  been  in  Kentucky.  He 
also  located  at  Georgetown,  but  later  moved  from 
there  and  settled  near  where  Nepesta  now  is.  Two 
of  her  uncles,  James  Mock,  of  Ordway,  Colorado, 
and  Will  Mock,  of  Fowler.  Colorado,  were  volun- 
teers at  the  Sand  Creek  fight. 


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